CSR Special Feature Who spends what? - The CSR Universe

1The Universe October 2020CSRwww.thecsruniverse.com

TheCSRUniverseDEFINING FUTURES R50October 2021Volume 01 n issue 01

● Is CSR on Education helping literacy rates?

● Govt on CSR spree in poll-bound states

CSR Special Feature

CSR Interviews

Who spends what?

● Explainer: PoshanMaah

LTI, Yes Bank, Mindtree, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank

Ms Alka Talwar Aman Pannu Anil SharmaChief – CSR and Sustainability Officer, Tata Chemicals Limited

Head, Corporate Social Respon-sibility (CSR), DCM Shriram

Vice President & Head - Corporate Communica-tions, CSR & Sustainability Havells India


TheCSRUniverse

Editorial Advisor: Abhishek Jha

Designer: Samay Singh, Harsh Mathur

Editorial Team: Shrishti Rao, Rishi Bhattacharya, Sandeep Kumar, Pranjal Jha

Consulting Editor: Ruchika Kumar

October 01, 2020

Assistant Director – Research

Marketing & Alliance: Alok Raman, Tridipt Maurya

Address: Plot No- 18 UGF, Bhagwati Garden, Near - Dwarka, Uttam Nagar, Delhi, 110059Ph. +91-7065919620Email: [email protected] website: https://thecsruniverse.com

Managing Editor: Shweta Singh Executive Editor: Mayank Mishra

Assistant Editor: Somesh Menon

Sia

» Latest CSR New & Updates

» Corporate and NGO Listing

» Thought Leadership Events

» Monthly Magazine

Who Spends What?

CSR Budget Analysis

CSR Interviews

CSR News

CSR Success Story

CSR Investigation

CSR Insights

Expert Opinion

Special Features CSR Policy

TheCSRUniverse


Contents

Interview with Pradnya Shinde, Head – Corporate Sustainability, Voltas: “Stronger law needed to encourage accountability in CSR implementation”

CSR 2019-20: M&M spends Rs 127 Cr on CSR; exceeds prescribed budget by Rs 20 Cr

Know how this Harvard Alumni is empowering India’s rural communities with tech jobs

CSR News

MCA amends Act to allow CSR funds towards COVID-19 related R&D

Larsen Toubro Infotech exceeds pre-scribed CSR limit by 70 %; Focuses on Edu, skilling, environment

JK Cement spends Rs 9.3 Cr on CSR projects; surpasses prescribed budget by Rs 70 lakh

Mindtree spends 178% more than pre-scribed CSR budget, major chunk goes to PM CARES Fund

Exceeding CSR Expectations: Asian Paints spends Rs 75 crore; exceeds pre-scribed budget by 30 %

CSR 2019-20: HDFC increases CSR spend by 20%; Spends Rs 535 Cror


The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has permitted companies to

spend their CSR fund on research and development for finding vaccines, med-icines and medical equipment meant to fight with Covid-19 pandemic. The minis-try has made it possible for the companies through an amendment to the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility) Rules, 2014. Now, the firms can claim CSR bene-fits for such activities until the 2022-2023 financial year, says the notification.In a notification issued on August 24, the MCA said that Corporates can fund such research under their CSR activities for fi-nancial years from 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23.However, MCA has put certain condi-tions like, such research and development activities shall be carried out in collabora-tion with any of the institutes or organisa-tions mentioned in item (ix) of Schedule VII to the Act.In another notification, the ministry clarifies the organisations mentioned in item (ix) of Schedule VII to the Act. It in-cludes public funded Universities; Indian Institute of Technology (IITs); National Laboratories and autonomous bodies es-tablished under Department of Atomic

MCA amends Act to allow CSR funds towards COVID-19 related R&D

Energy (DAE); Department of Biotech-nology (DBT); Department of Science and Technology (DST); Department of Pharmaceuticals; Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH); Ministry of Electronics and Information Technol-ogy and other bodies, namely Defense

Research and Development Organisation (DRDO); Indian Council of Agricultur-al Research (ICAR); Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Coun-cil of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), engaged in conducting research in science, technology, engineering and medicine aimed at promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Other than these organizations, there are

THE MCA HAS ALSO ASKED THAT DETAILS OF SUCH AC-

TIVITY SHALL BE DISCLOSED SEPARATELY IN THE ANNUAL

REPORT ON CSR INCLUDED IN THE BOARD’S REPORT.

many incubators or research and devel-opment projects in the field of science, technology, engineering and medicine supported by the government. Those cor-porates interested in funding the Covid-19 related R&D, can collaborate with these organisations as well, says the notification.It should be noted that the entire world is facing an unprecedented time because of a pandemic which has engulfed lakhs of lives and affected economies. India is also affected badly where daily reported cases of Covid-19 have crossed 75,000 mark.To fight with the pandemic, the Union government has been taking help of CSR funds being spent by corporate. The cen-tral government created the PMCARES fund and asked corporates to donate saying that the fund will be used to fight Covid-19. Now, it wants them to spend on research and development.The Companies Act requires firms with a net worth of Rs 500 crore or more, or turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more, or net profit of Rs 5 crore or more in the imme-diately preceding financial year, to man-datorily spend 2% of average net profit of the preceding three years on CSR. Money earmarked for spending on CSR activities in a year is about Rs 15,000 crore.

News

T


As part of its ongoing Corporate So-cial Responsibility (CSR) initiatives

towards the COVID19 relief efforts, Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufac-turer of motorcycles and scooters, on Monday handed over four specially de-signed First Responder Vehicles (FRVs) to the government civil hospitals in Rewari and Dharuhera in the Haryana.These unique and utilitarian vehicles will be useful for reaching out to patients and the needy in rural and remote areas and comfortably moving them to the near-

est hospitals. These First Responder Ve-hicles (FRVs) have been custom-built as an accessory on the powerful Xtreme 200R motorcycles of Hero MotoCorp. The FRVs have been equipped with a full stretcher with a foldable hood mounted on the side, essential medical equipment such as a detachable first-aid kit, oxygen cylinder, fire extinguisher and other safe-ty features such as LED Flasher Lights, foldable beacon light, emergency wireless public announcement system and siren.Vijay Sethi, Chief Information Officer,

Chief Human Resources Officer; Head Corporate Social Responsibility, Hero MotoCorp, said, “Continuing its support to fight COVID-19 pandemic, Hero Mo-toCorp has embarked on a major initia-tive of handing over first responder vehi-cles to the frontline personnel of various state authorities in order to support the patients located in rural and remote ar-eas. Designed and developed by the engi-neers at Hero’s Centre of Innovation and Technology (CIT) in Jaipur and the New Model Centre (NMC) in Gurgaon, first responder vehicle comes with all the es-sential medical equipment that provides immediate assistance for the patients who need to be transported to the hospital.”Ravi Kumar Pisipaty – Plant Head, Dha-ruhera – Hero MotoCorp handed over the four FRVs to Yashendra Singh, Dep-uty Commissioner of Rewari.As part of its relief efforts for the people impacted by Covid-19, Hero MotoCorp has already distributed 14 lakhs meals, 37,000 litres of sanitizers, 30 lakh face masks and 15,000 PPE kits to government hospitals, the Police departments and other agencies.

Kamdhenu Group donates Rs 71 Lakh to PM CARES FundKamdhenu Group, a diversified com-

pany in the steel and paints industry segment, has donated Rs 71 lakh to the Prime Minister-CARES Fund to support the on-going relief efforts being undertak-en in the current COVID-19 pandemic situation.The Company, Kamdhenu Limited, un-dertook this initiative under its CSR wing, Kamdhenu Jeevandhara Foundation.The Company had appealed to its employ-ees, dealers and distributors to donate into the PM-CARES Fund to support the cur-rent social cause and it not only collected funds from them but also itself contribut-ed towards the same.Kamdhenu Group undertook various initiatives during the current Covid-19 pandemic situation such as financial aid & free ration distribution to the masons/painters. In addition, it donated sanitizing tunnels to the government authorities and also distributed free masks and sanitizers

among the needy public at large through the dealers & distributors to tackle the Covid-19 spread.Satish Kumar Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of the Kamdhenu Group, said that his company is contin-uously making best efforts to provide its full support to the public at large during this tough time of COVID. “Kamdhenu Group is always committed to stand with our workers, associates and people, espe-cially during this tough time of a Covid-19 pandemic outbreak,” he said.‘Kamdhenu Jeevandhara Foundation’ has been instrumental in supporting the so-ciety through its social welfare initiatives on a regular basis. It has organized various blood donation camps across the country and has also educated people on the bene-fits of donating blood regularly.It also organizes various welfare camps for handicaps wherein, they are provided with free artificial limbs, wheelchairs, walkers,

polio calipers and other body-aid instru-ments. Even medicines &counseling to the patients and their families are deliv-ered absolutely free of charge. Kamdhenu Jeevandhara Foundation has associated itself with NGOs and autonomous bodies to help the differently-abled through dif-ferent means of relief. The Company do-nated various medical equipment for test-ing in laboratories to hospitals who are providing free healthcare services to the public. It recently donated an ambulance to Rotary Club Bhiwadi to help augment the healthcare services in the district.

Hero Motocorp donates first responder vehicles to government hospitals in Haryana

News

T

T


DCM Shriram Sugar provides onlineeducation to children in 62 villagesAs part of its Social Responsibility pro-

gram ‘Khushali Shiksha’, DCM Shri-ram, Sugar Business has started online ed-ucation for primary school children. The programme is being conducted by a 22 member team from Pratham Education Foundation, the NGO partner of DCM Shriram in 62 villages in 8 blocks of the district (Hariawan, Tadiwan, Bawan, Pi-hani, Bharkhani, Shahabad, Todarpur).Prior to COVID-19 pandemic the team was working directly with the government primary schools and communities in these 62 villages in Hardoi & Lakhimpur Kheri districts. The current unprecedented pan-demic has caused the team to work from home but the institution is still continu-ously striving to provide quality education for the children. The team began leverag-ing the community networks and digital resources to spread awareness regarding the disease and facilitate learning at home. Information regarding access to smart phones/ traditional phones was collected, so that appropriate content could be de-livered. The content for learning is being

sent daily through digital/telephone mode (text message, WhatsApp, video etc) to 600 plus volunteers, parents, village heads, school management committee members and other stake holders in the 62 villages under ‘Khushali Shiksha Program’.

The team interacts with the stakehold-ers on a daily basis and has reached out to 1500 children. Taking care of educa-tion as well as awareness, WHO certified COVID-19 safety videos are also being sent to the community by the members of the institution so that along with educa-tion, parents and children and other stake holders can remain aware of the COVID

The programme is being con-ducted by a 22-member team

from Pratham Education Foundation, the NGO partner

of DCM Shriram in 62 villages in 8 blocks of the district.

19 prevention protocol.Mr Roshan Lal Tamak, Executive Direc-tor & CEO, DCM Shriram, Sugar Business said, “We have kept a focus on continu-ity of learning, education and awareness for children who are part of the Khushali Shiksha program in our communities. We are happy to see that the connects we built through our community activities in the pre-COVID era are the base of activities being undertaken to reach out to children during these unprecedented times”Recently a pilot has been launched in these villages to make the children school ready where Mohalla-based activities are in the focus. Along with conducting activities at home, these activities are focusing on making various groups of children in the community and making them ready for school. For this process, 660 volunteers including mothers at village level that are being oriented by the Pratham team re-motely and they in turn are conducting learning activities with children in small groups. Till date 200 groups have been created and 1500 children reached.

News

T


Toyota empowers 1 lakh people to fight against the spread of Covid-19

In its mission to help people fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) has un-dertaken several initiatives. One such initiative is the distribution of health and hygiene kits through an employee led CSR programme, Sanjeevini.Under the initiative, TKM distributed health and hygiene kits to 5,000 employ-ees, each of whom took it upon themselves to distribute the kits to five families in their neighbourhood in Bangalore urban and rural areas benefitting totally 25,000 fam-ilies. The kits comprised a sanitizer bottle, three-ply facemasks and hand-wash soap. The volunteering employees also created awareness on the safety precautions vital to contain the viral outbreak with special emphasis on maintaining health and hy-giene in these times. The intention behind involving the employees was to propagate important hygiene practices and the use of masks to as many people as possible in their neighbourhoods.

Commenting on the initiative, Vikram Gulati, Country Head & Senior Vice Pres-ident, External Affairs, Public Relations, Corporate Social Responsibility & Corpo-rate Governance, TKM, said, “The idea for distribution of the kits stemmed from the view of safeguarding not just our employ-ees but also the other families residing in their neighbourhoods. In all, 25,000 fam-ilies or about 1,00,000 people were bene-fited by the health and hygiene kits. As a responsible corporate citizen, we will con-tinue with such endeavours in the battle against the coronavirus spread.”In the recent past, TKM has contributed INR 2 Crore to the Karnataka Chief Min-ister’s Relief Fund followed by the hand-ing over of 3,000 Hazmat suits to the Gov-ernment Health Volunteers in the state. About 3,500 essential kits, benefitting over 15,000 members were given to daily wage workers. TKM deployed 14 buses to support the health department in the state in addition to the distribution of sanitiz-

ers and masks to the state police. TKM also supported its supplier partner, Stump Schuele and Somappa Springs to ramp up its production of face shields from 275 to over 17,000 units per day.Further, TKM handed over a Mobile Medical Unit to the Indian Institute of Science to help scale up COVID-19 test-ing in the state. TKM has also provided 45 thermal scanners, 45,000 hand sanitizers, 100 beddings, consumables for 100 pa-tients, 20 sets of equipment such as intra-venous stands, blood pressure monitors and safety gear including 12,000 examina-tion gloves, 70,000 three-ply face masks and 7,500 N95 masks to the Health De-partment, Government of Karnataka and Bangalore police personnel. The company handed over 10 fumigation equipments to Victoria Hospital through Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute and another 10 to the Town Municipal Corporation of Bidadi, Ramanagara Dis-trict as per their requirements.

News

T


BSI’s Nutrition India Programme saves lives of 6,500 malnourished children

With the help of community nutri-tion workers, Dettol BSI-Nutrition

India Programme managed to save lives of 6,500 malnourished children in the age bracket of one to five year. It happened within a year of initiative, claims a state-ment released on Thursday.The statement said that after the first suc-cessful year of Dettol BSI – Nutrition India Programme, the community witnessed a 7.4 per cent reduction in the proportion of severely acute malnourished children across the districts of Amravati and Nan-durbar in Maharashtra.Within the first 10 months, the pro-gramme was able to save the lives of 6,500 children between the years of 1-5 with the help of 41 community nutrition workers.An independent evaluation by Sustainable Square also found that every Rs 1 invested in the BSI Nutrition India Programme de-livers a social value of Rs 36.90.The five-year programme was devel-oped to support in the first 1000 days of a child’s life, utilizing digital and artificial intelligence-based innovative modules, to strengthen the health, hygiene and nutrition status of pregnant women and children in Maharashtra’s Amravati and Nandurbar.Commenting on the partnership initia-tive, Gaurav Jain, Senior Vice President, South Asia, Reckitt Benckiser Health, “Given the alarming number of malnour-

ishment cases witnessed in states like Maharashtra, districts of Amravati and Nandurbar became the starting ground for the Nutrition India Programme in partnership with Plan India. The five-year programme is aimed at strengthening the health, hygiene, and nutrition status of pregnant women and children across im-pacted communities.”Acknowledging this support Mohammed

Asif, Executive Director, Plan India, said, “Nutrition India program has shown the light on the imperative of collaborative ac-tions by governments, corporates and civil society to successfully tackle the challenge of malnutrition and undernourishment in rural communities.” “We are thankful to RB for the partner-ship and for ensuring timely access to life-saving and preventive measures to ramp up nutrition and public health out-comes in underserved communities.” He added.In the past one year, Nutrition India Programme has worked with local com-munities and developed a workforce of travelling nutrition champions who are

known as ‘Community Nutrition Work-ers (CNWs)’. These workers are given rig-orous training by public health experts, pediatricians, gynecologists, and com-munity development specialists, and are educated about the golden rules of good nutrition.The ongoing programme is focusing on maternal and child health. Everything related to it is being taught to these com-munity nutrition workers, such as–what precautions are to be taken by expecting mothers, what should be their diet, les-sons on breastfeeding, the importance of breastfeeding within the initial hour of birth, exclusive breastfeeding for the new-born, and the diet which should be given to a child so that he/she is saved from the ill effects of malnutrition.Over the next four years, the programme aims to reach 1,77,000 mothers of under-nourished children across 1,000 villages with a target of 40 per cent reduction in the number of children under five who are stunted, and to reduce and maintain childhood wasting to less than 5 per cent.Plan India’s on-ground expertise is help-ing reach communities properly through a systematized process. The partner orga-nization is also supporting by providing nutrition workers with simple interactive tools that deliver clear and effective mes-saging around nutrition and hygiene to create behavioral changes in the society.

EVERY RS 1 INVESTED IN THE BSI NUTRITION INDIA PRO-

GRAMME DELIVERS A SOCIAL VALUE OF RS 36.90

News

T


Tata Chemicals, WTI collaboration protects hundreds of endangered whale sharksSixteen years of engagement of Wild-

life Trust of India and its partner Tata Chemicals with Gujarat forest department has saved the lives of at least 780 whale sharks in the coastal area of Gujarat. To celebrate the achievement and commem-orate International Whale Shark Day which will be observed on 30 August, key stakeholders from across the globe work-ing on the conservation of the endangered species ‘Whale Shark’ came together on Friday.As a result of the collaboration and con-servation project activities, more than 780 whale sharks have been voluntarily released by the fishermen between 2004 and June 2020. Not only this, there are enough signs showing that whale sharks are breeding along the Gujarat coast as well.Whale Shark, the gentle giant is an endan-gered and the first fish breed to enjoy pro-tection equal to that of the tiger, lion and elephant in India. The large scale hunting of the whale shark in Gujarat prompted Wildlife Trust of India to launch a cam-paign with Tata Chemicals in 2004.Covering prominent coastal towns and villages in the state, the conservation campaign message delivered through the popular religious leader Shri Morari Bapu touched the hearts of many, related street plays were carried out and exhibition of

a life-sized inflatable model of the Whale Shark that is put up every year by Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development (TCSRD) managed to capture each ones attention and turned hunters into protec-tors.The Gujarat government also played cru-cial role by compensating fishermen for the nets damaged in the process of res-cuing the huge as well as the baby whale sharks.

Subsequent to these activities, satellite tag-ging of whale sharks depicted interesting study and insights on this gentle species such as the long distances these gentle gi-ants would cover across the ocean – their migratory pattern and spotting neonates off Gujarat coastline that indicated the breeding of whale sharks in these waters.This pioneering marine project has won accolades across the world, attracting the association of an international scien-tific community on the advisory council of this project. The celebration gathering conducted through the online platform

MORE THAN 780 WHALE SHARKS HAVE BEEN VOL-

UNTARILY RELEASED BY THE FISHERMEN BETWEEN 2004

AND JUNE 2020.

also focused on opportunities and chal-lenges in Whale Shark Conservation. The event witnessed participation by eminent names involved in shark conservation, such as Dr. Mark Meekan from Australia, Dr. Rachel Graham from Belize and Dr. Simon Pierce from Mozambique.Vivek Menon, ED & CEO of WTI in his welcome address added, “Recent records of neonates and pre-juveniles from Gu-jarat waters by the project team means that whale sharks are breeding along the Gujarat coast which is a really good sign. For conservation action to give results, whether for species or habitats, we believe that sustained long-term support is essen-tial. TCL has been supporting the whale shark conservation for more than 15 years now, we thank them sincerely”“Being a part of the Whale shark day and the conservation effort to save these gentle giants reminds us once again that Biodi-versity is the key to our survival and long term sustainability goals. It is not just one beautiful and endangered species that we are saving but, it is our significant effort towards a holistic approach for the pro-tection and conservation of biodiversity. Such initiatives to halt biodiversity loss are the reaffirmation of our commitment toward our stakeholder communities,” said Alka Talwar, Chief CSR and Sustain-ability officer of Tata Chemicals.

News

T


Jindal Stainless (Hisar) exceeds prescribed CSR budget, major focus on relief worksManufacturer of stainless steel prod-

ucts, Jindal Stainless (Hisar) ex-ceeded its prescribed CSR budget for 2019-20 and spent a significant chunk of its expenditure towards relief works for cyclone Fani and Covid-19.Going a step forward, the company spent Rs 8.92 crore on corporate social respon-sibility in last financial year against its prescribed CSR expenditure of Rs 8.89 crore. Average net profit of the company for last three financial years stood at Rs 444.55 crore. The prescribed CSR budget for a company is calculated as 2% of the average annual profit over the last three financial years.Out of this amount, the company spent Rs 2.20 crore by providing financial assis-tance to the Odisha State Disaster Man-agement Authority for relief work due to Cyclone Fani and support to needy fami-lies during the spread of COVID 19. Oth-er than these relief works, Jindal Stainless (Hisar) also focused on agriculture devel-opment, maintenance and restoration of parks etc.Chairperson Emeritus Savitri Devi Jindal says, “Our approach has taken a much more ambitious and strategic view on CSR and sustainability, focusing on empower-ing communities to generate a positive impact financially, socially and environ-mentally.”The CSR Committee of the company in-cludes Deepika Jindal, Kanwaljit Singh Thind and Jagmohan Sood Member. Deepika Jindal is the chairperson of the committee.

Here are the focus areas of its CSR arm:Agriculture Development ProjectIn partnership with the Gram Unnati Foundation, the company is implement-ing its project named ‘Improving the In-comes of Farmers through Production Practices and Market Linkages’ in Hisar, Pataudi and Nuh (Districts Gurugarm and Mewat). The company implements the same project with NABARD (Nation-al Bank for Agriculture and Rural Devel-opment) in rest of India. Around 2,452

farmers are directly associated with the project and are given technical advisory assistance on agricultural practices, right from sowing till the harvesting for both Rabi and Kharif crops, the company in-forms in the annual report. Farmers also get an opportunity to participate in vari-ous other events and trainings such as, Ki-san Mela, exposure visits etc, conducted at various institutes. The project is exploring tie-ups with other institutional buyers in Delhi NCR to present farmers the oppor-tunity to access a larger market. The farm-er-centric project has also joined hands with NABARD to strengthen the Farmers Production Organisations (FPOs) in six

The company spent Rs 8.92 crore on corporate social respon sibility in the last financial year against its

prescribed CSR budget of Rs 8.89 crore.

districts of Haryana, three districts of Ra-jasthan and two districts of Uttar Pradesh. The company spent Rs 1.31 crore on the project.Maintenance and Restoration of OP Jin-dal Memorial ParkThe restoration and maintenance of the OP Jindal Memorial Park is being im-plemented in partnership with Prabhaav Foundation. The park covers 24.5 acres of land, and regular activities related to its beautification are carried out, such as plantation of the seasonal flower plants/trees, grass mowing, irrigation, cleaning, mural painting etc. Additionally, Stainless Steel toilets, benches, dustbins, RO unit for safe drinking water, topiary and giraffe structure were installed in financial year 2020. A series of community sensitisation drives and a mega cultural, entertaining and informative event were organized for the local communities.Deaf School Empowerment Project, ‘Nai Disha’A program for developing the knowledge and skills of the deaf students enrolled at Welfare Centre for Persons with Speech and Hearing Impairment (WCPSHI), Hisar and Sonipat is being executed in partnership with Noida Deaf Society. Around 229 students are benefitting by learning the Indian Sign language, Basic English Communication, Value education and Computing. Sports activities such as skipping ropes, cricket, badminton, football are also organised periodically. Assessments show improvements in the academic performances of the students, along with increased communication with teachers, parents and friends, thus inculcating a positive attitude towards leading a satisfying life.Adolescent Health and Menstrual Hy-giene Project, ‘Udaya’Project Udaya aims to disseminate appro-priate knowledge and create awareness among adolescents on menstrual health, child sexual abuse and domestic violence in 5 schools in partnership with Sachhi Saheli. A mass sensitization workshop was organized with the students and the teachers. Identified teachers were inten-sively trained as Master Trainers to fur-ther sensitise students in their respective schools. The students are gradually learn-ing to manage emotions and relationships that is important for leading healthy life-styles.

News

T


Covid 19: Northern Coalfields donates Rs 5Cr to UP Government for ambulancesIn a bid to help Uttar Pradesh in its fight

against Covid-19, National miner Coal India arm Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL) has donated Rs 5 crores for procurement of 50 ambulances. CMD of NCL Prabhat Kumar Sinha and Director (Personnel) Bimlendu Kumar handed over the cheque to the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath.NCL is a Miniratna Company and one

of the three subsidiaries of Coal India that produce and supply over 100 million tonne (MT) of coal annually. The compa-ny is engaged in mining from a total of 10 coal mines. Out of this, four are located in the Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh and these account for over 20% of the company’s total coal production.In a statement released on Friday, the com-

pany claimed that it has taken up various CSR initiatives in the state and has spent more than Rs. 80 crores in the past five years for various development projects here. Its works include solar power elec-trification of 80 Primary Health Centres, financial aid for solid waste management in 13 panchayats of Varanasi, construction of eco park near Banaras Railway Station, distribution of around 15,000 furniture in 1,800 government schools, smart class-rooms in schools, construction of roads, developing skills of youths etc, claims the statement.On the occasion, Sinha said, “NCL’s coal operations are in UP and MP States. As a responsible corporate citizen we are com-mitted for the inclusive development of the state and as a part of our corporate Social responsibility (CSR) we have made a contribution of Rs 5 crores to the state for purchase of ambulances during these trying times.”It should be noted that the whole country is under the grip of Covid-19 pandemic currently which has directly affected at least 50 lakh people here. Uttar Pradesh is one of the most affected states witnessing 6,000-7,000 Covid cases per day and has reached close to a total of 3.5 lakh cases so far.

News

IMAGE NOT INCLUDED

The CSR Universe is moving! Where are you?

F i n d y o u r a n s w e r s h e r e !

Stay tuned to TheCSRUniverse.com to get unlimited access of● CSR Analysis and special features ● Interviews with industry leaders● Corporate and NGO Listing ● Thought Leadership Events

T


Fujifilm India unveils ‘Connecting Hearts’ campaign to strengthen the bond of Healthcare warriors and Covid-19 survivors

Fujifilm India, a pioneer in imaging and healthcare technologies, has pledged

to spread positivity and joy in these un-foreseen times with its new campaign ‘Connecting Hearts’, a CSR initiative to help improve the disconnect between pa-tients and doctors. To reduce anxiousness among patients and help them combat COVID with congeniality and affection, Fujifilm has introduced a unique pa-tient-focused program by sharinginstax cameras and filmsat hospitals to spread smiles across doctors and nurses working on the frontline during these times.The film titled ‘Connecting Hearts’ dives into how the healthcare heroes treating COVID-19 patients are required to wear a significant amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) to safeguard themselves from the threat of the disease. The film conceptualized in association with m/SIX India, highlights how healthcare profes-sionals working in odd conditions have been trying to find ways to connect better with patients in order to lessen the anxiety and stress induced by the disease.With Fujifilm stepping up in providing instax cameras and films, this initiative lets the doctors use the simplicity and ac-cessibility of instax instant photography-to help easily distinguish themselves on their PPE. With Instant cameras, doctors or nurses can now effortlessly take a pho-

tograph and quickly attach a credit card-sized instant photo print of themselves to their medical gowns. Commenting on this, Haruto Iwata, Managing Director, Fujifilm India said, “This program is our subtle way of releas-ing stress in these unprecedented times. While photography may not be able to help in curing patients or protect health-

care staff, at Fujifilm, we believe it may actually cultivate a closer engagement be-tween doctors and nurses and the patients they are treating. With this, we can share friendly faces of our health warriors from behind their PPE and remind them that there is a human on the other side of the gown, gloves, goggles and N95 mask.”Adding to this Tribhuwan Joshi, Lead Brand Communication, Public Relations & CSR said, “With our campaign ‘Con-necting Hearts’ we wish to salute the healthcare professionals all over India fighting the battle to minimize the grow-

The film dives into how the healthcare heroes treating

COVID-19 patients are re-quired to wear a significant

amount PPE to safeguard themselves.

ing nervousness for COVID-19. With our initiative quickly revealing the happy and comforting face behind the PPE, health-care staff and patients have noticed a sense of calmness, relaxation & empathy in the most challenging of circumstances that these patients are currently facing. With this we aim to take our motto, ‘Never Stop, believing in Smiles’ forward and spread a ray of positivity and hope among the peo-ple combatting each day with the unparal-leled disease.”Speaking on the campaign, Saket Sinha, Senior Vice President and Head of m/SIX India said, “Our team along with Fujifilm did a stellar job in capturing the happy faces of the health workers just to put a smile on their faces when they needed it the most. Amongst us all, they are the ones who are fighting at the frontlines to save people’s lives. The m/SIX content plus team and Fujifilm with this small video, shed light on our warriors through this great initiative and proved that humanity can still be alive while facing a pandemic.”The instax products offered so far have been prioritized to healthcare teams working in intensive care units and care on the Coronavirus frontline. Till date, approximately 20 instax cameras and 400 instax prints have been shared with hospi-tals in Delhi and Bangalore, and there are plans on extending this number further. T

News


1,303 Anganwadi Centres built in country under CSRAs many as 1,303 Anganwadi Cen-

tres have been constructed under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the country till June 2020, informed Sm-riti Zubin Irani, Minister of Women and Child Development during the ongoing parliament session.Responding to a query by Amee Yajnik from Indian National Congress, the union minister informed that there are a total of 13.83 Lakh operational Anganwadi Cen-tres in India. Out of which, 1,303 AWC buildings have been completed under CSR, as on June 30, 2020.Amee Yajnik had asked the minister whether the Government has any proposal to appeal to the corporate sector to spend a certain percentage share of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) towards the upgradation of Anganwadi Centres.Responding to this, she informed, “Under the Anganwadi Services Scheme, there is a provision for upgradation of Anganwadi Centres. Some Corporates have also sup-ported construction of Anganwadi Cen-tres under Corporate Social Responsibil-ity (CSR).”At present India has a total of 13,99,697 Anganwadi Centres sanctioned, out of which around 13,83,875 centres are op-erational, according to the minister’s response to another question in Rajya Sabha.Ever since the nature of Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR) was turned from vol-untary to mandatory under the Compa-nies Act 2013, the government has started seriously taking note of actual spend by corporate on their CSR activities.The companies are also required to focus on some specific activities towards so-cial upliftment and community welfare programmes that are aligned to United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).Anganwadi Services scheme is one of the direct targeted interventions to ad-dress the problem of malnutrition in the country. It provides six child development related services. This includes Supple-mentary Nutrition, Pre-school Education, Health & Nutrition Education, Immu-nization, Health check-up and Referral Services. The services are provided at the Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) through An-ganwadi Workers (AWWs) and Angan-wadi Helpers (AWHs) to more than 8.75

crore beneficiaries across the country.Keeping in view the acute shortage of An-ganwadi Centre (AWC) buildings, several ministries of Government of India issued joint guidelines to construct around 4 lakh Anganwadi buildings across the country in convergence with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). These ministries include the Ministry of Rural Devel-opment, Panchayati Raj and Women & Child Development. Under this scheme, the funds for construction of 29,941 AWC buildings in 2015-16 and 81,447 AWC buildings in 2016-17 were released to States/UTs.Now, the government of India is also pro-viding funds for upgradation of AWC building at a rate of Rs 2 lakh per building. It also provides Rs 3,000 for maintenance per AWC and Rs. 10,000 for Furniture & Equipment for every AWC once in 5 years. T

Year Sanctioned Operational2013-14 1400000 13421462014-15 1400000 13461862015-16 1400000 13495632016-17 1400000 13547922017-18 1400000 13630212018-19 1399697* 1372872

year wise details of sanctioned/operational Anganwadi centres as on 30.06.2020

News


How CSR funds can be utilised for COVID relief: Here are the answers to all your queries!

The COVID pandemic has brought an unprecedented crisis slowing

economic activities resulting in millions of job losses. Following the COVID out-break, India witnessed a phenomenon called reverse migration where labourers and daily-wage workers moved back to their villages as they lost their livelihood in cities.The already poor health care system of India has also been getting overwhelmed with a large number of COVID infected people unable to access proper medical care. The educational institutions were also shut due to the strict COVID proto-cols imposed by the government.Amid all this chaos, the government has appealed to all the corporates to gener-ously help and support the people and communities by their COVID relief ini-tiatives. Accordingly, the government al-lowed COVID relief initiatives to become part of corporates’ CSR activity. The PM CARES was also launched towards the end of March 2020 so that financial re-sources can be accumulated to help the government’s fight against COVID.What is the connection between CSR and COVID relief?This has led many corporates in join-ing hands with the government and also doing separate activities in the areas of health, livelihood, online education etc. Many corporates have opened their chest for ensuring safety of frontline workers and also help those people facing survival issues amid the crisis. The corporates are also encouraged to do so as the govern-

ment allowed many COVID relief mea-sures as their CSR activities.But, what COVID related corporate ini-tiatives come under their Corporate So-cial Responsibility (CSR) activities? Is donation to PM CARES a CSR activity? Whether supporting your employees during these tough times count as part of your CSR programme? Whether donation to the CM relief fund also comes under

CSR provisions?The first and foremost is the Centre’s no-tification related PM CARES. The govern-ment has notified that donation to PM CARES will be eligible for CSR expenses on the lines of the PM National Relief fund. “This notification shall be deemed to have come into force on 28th March, 2020,” the government said while insert-ing this clause in the CSR policy provi-sions.Further, the Union Ministry of Corpo-rate Affairs has been releasing guidelines to clear doubts related to CSR provisions applicable for corporates’ COVID related efforts and initiatives. TheCSRUniverse.com brings you answers to your questions

on CSR and COVID related initiatives.Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): CSR expenditure &COVID-19 activitiesQ: Whether contribution made to ‘PM CARES Fund’ shall qualify as CSR ex-penditure?A: Yes. All the contributions made to ‘PM CARES Fund’ shall qualify as CSR expen-diture under item no (viii) of Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013.Q: Whether contributions made to ‘Chief Minister’s Relief Funds’ or ‘State Relief Fund for COVID-19’ shall qualify as CSR expenditure?A: No. Chief Minister’s Relief Fund’ or ‘State Relief Fund for COVID-19’ is not included in Schedule VII of the Compa-nies Act, 2013 and therefore any contri-bution to such funds shall not qualify as admissible CSR expenditure.Q: Whether contribution made to the State Disaster Management Authority shall qualify as CSR expenditure?A: Yes. All the contributions made to the State Disaster Management Authority to combat COVID-19 shall qualify as CSR expenditure under item no (xii) of Sched-ule VII of the 2013.Q: Whether spending of CSR funds for COVID-19 related activities shall qual-ify as CSR expenditure?A: Yes. Spending CSR funds for COVID-19 related activities shall quali-fy as CSR expenditure depending on the nature of spent. The use of CSR fund is allowed for promotion of health care in-cluding preventive health care and sanita-tion, and disaster management.Q: Whether payment of salary/wages to employees and workers, including contract labour, during the lockdown period can be adjusted against the CSR expenditure of the companies?A: No. Payment of salary/ wages in normal circumstances is a contractual and statu-tory obligation of the company. Similarly, payment of salary/ wages to employees and workers even during the lockdown period is a moral obligation of the em-ployers, as they have no alternative source of employment or livelihood during this period. Thus, payment of salary/ wag-es to employees and workers during the lockdown period (including imposition of other social distancing requirements) shall not qualify as admissible CSR ex-penditure. T

The government has ap-pealed to all the corporates to gener ously help and sup-port the people and commu-

nities by their COVID relief ini tiatives.

Knowledge


JK Cement spends Rs 9.3 Cr on CSR projects; surpasses prescribed budget by Rs 70 lakh

Leading cement-maker JK Cement has spent Rs 70 lakh in excess to its pre-

scribed CSR budget in the financial year 2019-20. The company which had a man-date of spending around Rs 8.66 crore on its CSR activities ended up spending a to-tal of Rs 9.35 crore at the end of the finan-cial year, the company reported.The Company’s total spending on CSR stood at 2.63% of the average profit after taxes in the previous three financial years.The average net profit of the company over the last three years was Rs 433 crore. Accordingly, the prescribed CSR amount, calculated as the 2 % of the average annual profit over the last three years, was Rs 8.66 crore for the financial year 2019-20.“The total amount required to be spent by the Company on Corporate Social Re-sponsibility (CSR) activities during the year 2019-20 was Rs 8.66 crore as. 2% of average net profits for the last three finan-cial years, calculated as per section 198 of the Companies Act,2013,” the company reported.The company had exceeded the pre-scribed CSR budget last year as well. In the financial year 2018-19, the company had spent a total of Rs 6.68 crore against the required CSR spend of Rs 6.40 crore on its various CSR programmes.JK Cement CSR focus- Community Wel-

fare, Health and LivelihoodThe company focussed on CSR projects related to community welfare, rural in-frastructure development and health and livelihood with most of the projects aligned to the needs of the local commu-nity. The company undertook CSR proj-ects at various locations across Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka.While the total spends on Education CSR

projects was Rs 2.16 crore, the actual ex-penditure on rural infrastructure was Rs 3.64 crore. Further, the spend on commu-nity welfare was Rs 3.24 crore.The Company assists in running of Schools at their Cement Plants, ITIs and Sir Padampat Singhania University, Udai-pur imparting value-based education to the students. “The Company played a constructive role in the infrastructural de-velopment of surrounding areas. During the period under report, the Company undertook various activities e.g. Art and Culture, Community Welfare, Drinking Water, Education, Health, Rural Develop-ment, Environment Protection, Natural Calamity, Livelihood and Sports Promo-tion,” noted the 2019-20 annual report of the company.The company also worked to make water accessible in local communities. A few

● Prescribed budget: Rs 8.66 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 9.35 Cr● Key CSR areas: Health, Envi-ronment, Livelihood

JK Cement spent Rs 70 lakh in excess of its prescribed CSR budget in the financial year

2019-20.

other CSR projects focussed on health and sanitation as well.Water Accessibility & HealthThe company worked on providing drink-ing water facilities for Bansa, Laxmipura and Mangrol in Rajasthan. It carried out activities like laying pipelines and provid-ing water by water tankers to nearby Vil-lages in Shahbad (Rajasthan). The com-pany made safe and clean drinking water supply accessible in Jharali, Haryana as well.Under the health-related projects, the company organised Medical Check-up camps and Eye camps in Ahirpura, Karunda and Maliakhera & Phalwa in Ra-jasthan.EnvironmentIn the nearby areas of Maliakhera & Nim-bahera in Rajasthan, the company carried out activities and events for promotion and awareness about Environment and organised van Mahotsav.LivelihoodThe livelihood projects run by the com-pany included Sparsh Sanitary Pad Proj-ect for Women self-help groups. The company provided structured setups & training for earning through production and selling of low-cost sanitary pads. The project was run in Chittorgarh, Karunda, Ahirpura, Maliakhera and Nimbahera in Rajasthan.EducationThe company also organised various ac-tivities for educational promotion at near-by rural areas of Fatcher, Nimbahera & Shahbad in Rajasthan. T

CSR Budget Analysis


Larsen Toubro Infotech exceeds prescribed CSR limit by 70 %; Focuses on Edu, skilling, environment

Leading IT solution and technology consulting company Larsen Toubro

Infotech (LTI)has spent 70 % more than the prescribed CSR budget in the financial year 2019-20.The Larson and Toubro Group company spent a total of Rs 46 Crore in the year 2019-20 against a prescribed CSR budget of Rs 27 crore, the company reported. The company contributed a total of 18 Crore to the PM CARES.Also, in the financial year 2019-20, the company’s CSR spent was more than dou-ble as compared to the spend in the previ-ous year. In the financial year 2018-19, the company had spent around Rs 22 crore on its various CSR activities.The prescribed budget of a company, as per the Companies Act 2013, is calculated as the 2 % of the average annual profit of a company over last three financial years.LTI’s average net profit for the last three years stood at Rs 1,360 Crore.The company’s “CSR expenses increased to Rs 46 crore for the year ended March 31, 2020 from Rs 22.4 crore for the year ended March 31, 2019, which includes contribution made by the Company of around Rs 18 crore to PM CARES Fund for COVID-19 relief measures.”The company leveraged its technology ex-pertise in implementing its various CSR projects which focussed. “Technology

has always been an enabler at LTI, more so across the societal fabric and our CSR outreach spans communities. Leveraging technology, we have created multitude of opportunities for growth and prosperity around the world. Our 1Step Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program is focused on Education, Empowerment and Environment, to solve for the society,” the company officials said.The Company partnered with Non-Gov-ernmental Organizations (NGOs) with expertise in its thematic areas of CSR fo-cus. Key CSR activities in the company revolved around programmes related to education, skill building and environment

The company’s CSR expens-es increased to Rs 46 crore

for the year ended March 31, 2020 from Rs 22.4 crore

for the year ended March 31, 2019.

conservation.EducationThe Company worked towards providing access to technology through its programs towards supplementary education in gov-ernment and government-aided schools. These initiatives not only offered the in-frastructure but also provided the techni-cal know-how and follow a handholding approach for students who come from low income households. It implemented expe-riential learning programs enabling the students to understand technical concepts making science, mathematics and English

subjects more productive and engaging. The company also provided mid-day meals through Akshaya Patra Foundation.The company set up science and basic technology labs in schools and providing mid-day meals & better infrastructure to school children in multiple location across Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Ahmednagar Gadchiroli in Ma-harashtra; Bengaluru, Dharwad, Koppal, Chitradurga, Mysuru in Karnataka; Chit-toor in AP; Hyderabad in Telangana; and Chennai, Thiruvanamalai, Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu.During FY2020, the company reached out to 97,308 school children through these programs.EmpowermentLTI provided vocational and digital skills by setting up necessary infrastructure for employability among underprivileged youth, women and people with special abilities. Empowerment programme were run across its centres in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Ahmednagar, Wai in Maharashtra; Sonari in UP; Nainital in Uttarakhand; and Chennai in Tamil Nadu.During FY2020, 25,077 youth and wom-en including the specially-abled have been trained through such programs. The company’s Digital Sakshar program in partnership with Pratham Infotech Foun-dation, was extended virtually to enhance the digital skills of underprivileged youth. The program benefited over 3,500 youth during the lockdown period.“The Company’s CSR efforts are centered around making youth, women and people with special abilities competent, employ-able as well as supporting an inclusive

● Prescribed budget: Rs 27 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 46 Cr● Key CSR areas: Education,Livelihood and Environment

CSR Budget Analysis


The new age building solutions provid-er Everest Industries spent Rs 1.176

crore on CSR activities in the financial year 2019-20. Under its CSR activities, the company majorly focused on capacity building, skill development & training, education, preventive healthcare and en-vironmental sustainability.The company’s prescribed CSR budget for the year was approximately Rs 1.188 crore. Average Net Profit of the company for last three financial years stood at Rs 59.38 crore. The prescribed CSR budget for a company is calculated as 2% of the average annual profit over the last three financial years.

Everest Industries spends around Rs 1.18 Crore on CSR activities in FY 2019-20

In its annual report, the company said, “Nationwide lockdown announced by the Government of India from March 25, 2020 necessitated immediate suspension of all the CSR Projects and consequently, the company could not spend remaining amount of Rs 1.16 lakh.”The company is undertaking the CSR ac-tivities through its trust, Everest Founda-tion with Padmini Somani as its Chairper-son. Everest through its CSR arm is also signatory of United Global Compact and all its social initiatives are aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).Major programmes on which the com-pany spent its CSR budgetTraining & Skill Building: Computer ed-ucation and training centres were run to benefit youths and children, the cumula-tive spent was Rs 85.88 lakh.Health & Sanitation: A Tobacco Control Programme was implemented to make Nashik district tobacco-free. Under this, a

total of 16,977 people were touched and educated on ill effects of tobacco and ways to bringing change in habits. A sanitation project was also undertaken in Raigadh district of Maharashtra. The cumulative spent on both programme was Rs 14.86 lakh.Sports Promotions: A total of Rs 11.26 lakh were spent for the sports promotion which includes training youths and or-ganising Football and Badminton tourna-ments. Environment and Community Build-ing: Everest Industries contributed during the Fani cyclone in Odisha and extended help to the flood affected community by providing meals to them. A total of 6000 meals were provided to 2,200 villagers. To make the community self-dependant to repair their houses, Everest conducted Building Master Training program in Bol-anga, Dewli Sahi villages in Puri district. T

and equal culture. To equip youth with the skills to participate in an increasingly digital world, we invest in making digital literacy and soft skills available to enable their overall development,” the company noted in its annual report,” adding “We empower women from marginalized communities by providing training in the traditional art of Warli which enables them to sell products in the market while also ensuring the revival of this tribal art. Differently abled youth are given training in a BPO like set up to be able to learn and earn at the same time.”EnvironmentThrough 1Step, LTI has focused on the

key issues of environment conservation and climate action by restoring biodiver-sity of regions, increasing the green cov-er, planting more trees and implementing rainwater harvesting to enable farmers to irrigate more land. Global campaigns were conducted during the year to spread awareness on responsible lifestyles among our associates. We initiated installation of rooftop solar panels as a source of clean energy for the schools where we operate and which were experiencing frequent power outages.During the year, the company helped plant over 1.7 lac trees in various locations and installed solar facilities of 56.7 KW capac-

ity in schools. It also helped irrigate and nearly 200 acres of land through our wa-ter conservation programs. The rainwater harvesting projects were implemented at multiple locations across Karnataka, Ma-harashtra and Tamil NaduVirtual VolunteeringWith social distancing emerging as an inviolable protocol of the new normal in the COVID-19 era, LTI set up the ‘Learn from Home’ model to enable children in rural India to continue with their educa-tion virtually. As a pilot, the company ini-tiated this model in five schools reaching over 600 students, with the ultimate aim of impacting over 20,000 children. T

● Prescribed budget: Rs 1.18 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 1.17 Cr● Key CSR areas: Livelihood, Health, Environment

CSR Budget Analysis


CSR Projects Sectors Location A m o u n t spent (Rs in Cr)

Financial Assistance for ed-ucation, vocational training programmes for women, Career guidance programme for youth, Workshop on computer programming, Mini Science Projects, Sports training to school students etc.

Education Pune, Kagal, Nashik (Maharashtra)

5.13

Kirloskar Vasundhara film festival, Kirloskar Vasundha-ra Eco Rangers etc.

Environment Pune, Kagal, Nashik (Maharashtra)

0.13

HIV/AIDS awareness pro-gramme, Health checkup camps, Hygine awareness programmes, Health coun-seling programmes etc

Health Pune, Kagal, Nashik (Maharashtra)

0.14

Community development project

Rural Develop-ment

Pune and Kagal (Maharashtra)

0.08

Rehabilitation of flood affect-ed people

Disaster Man-agement

Kagal (Maharash-tra)

0.01

CSR Expenditure for financial year 2019-20

KOEL spends Rs 5.49 crore on CSR for FY 2019-20; Major focus on edu, health and rural development

Kirloskar Oil Engines Limited (KOEL) spent more than its prescribed CSR

budget in the financial year 2019-20. The company which specialises in man-ufacturing of diesel engines, agricultural pumpsets and generating sets spent Rs 5.49 crore on its CSR activities this year.Education, Health, Environment and Ru-ral Development remained the focus areas for the company’s CSR.The company’s average net profit for the last three financial years stood at Rs 268.76 crores and its prescribed CSR expenditure was calculated at around Rs 5.38 crores, says its annual report. The prescribed CSR budget for a company is calculated as the 2% of the average profit over the last three financial years. KOEL’s CSR expenditure in 2019-20 saw a significant rise of 19% from Rs 4.59 crore in 2018-19.The company in its annual report said its focus areas under CSR have remained

● Prescribed budget: Rs 5.38 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 5.49 Cr● Key CSR areas: Health, Envi-ronment

CSR Budget Analysis

consistent over the years and include Health, Education, Rural Development and En-vironment. T


Mindtree spends 178% more than prescribed CSR budget, major chunk goes to PM CARES Fund

Digital transformation and technolo-gy services company Mindtree’s CSR

expenditure has seen a whopping 265% increase in the past four years. The com-pany increased its CSR expenditure from Rs 9.4 crore in financial year 2015-16 to Rs 34.3 crore in financial years 2019-20. However, the majority of the increase went to the PM CARES Fund created during Covid-19 pandemic.The Larsen & Toubro Group company do-nated Rs 20 crore to the fund created by the prime minister of India for the purpose of fighting with problems like Covid-19. The total contribution towards CSR activities for financial year 2020 amounted to Rs 34.3 crore which included contribution of Rs 20 crore to PM CARES Fund for fight-ing the coronavirus pandemic.The company has spent 178% more than its prescribed CSR budget in 2020. As per the company’s annual report, its av-erage net profit for the last three financial years stood at Rs 616.44 crore, bringing its prescribed CSR budget for 2019-20 to Rs 12.33 crore (2% of the average profit over the last three financial years).The company claims that around 21,198 people have been benefited directly from its CSR projects.It says, “Our CSR endeavours focus atten-tion towards the disadvantaged, vulner-able and marginalized stakeholders. Our Mindtree Foundation spreads its initia-

Sharp increase in CSR expenditure inlast five Years

(Rs in Crore)34.3

1512.410.99.4

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20

CSR project or activity identified

Focus areas Amount spent (Rs in crore)

Digital technology and professional services to people working in infor-mal sector.

Eradicating poverty, pro-moting education and vo-cational skills

7.286

Cost of the employees working on CSR

Administrative expenses 1.294

Other Donation 1. Protection of national heritage, art and culture2. Promoting healthcare, women health, pure drink-ing water

1.070

Donation to Mindtree Foundation 4.7Contribution to PMCARES Fund 20

Total CSR Expenditure 34.35

tives across education for the under privi-leged, support for people with disabilities, and empowering the women and youth of the country.”The company says that its CSR platforms are focused on leveraging technology for addressing social and environmental risks in the larger society and creating sustain-

able value over years.Mindtree implements its CSR initiatives via three channels. It implements direct-ly by Mindtree, through Mindtree Foun-dation and through “Individual Social Responsibility” programmes undertaken by Mindtree Minds and supported by Mindtree as appropriate. T

● Prescribed budget: Rs 12.33 Cr

● Actual Spend: Rs 34.3 Cr

● Key CSR areas: Education, Liveli-hood, Poverty Alleviation

CSR Budget Analysis


CSR 2019-20: Birla Corporation exceeds prescribed CSR budget; Focuses on health, education

One of the largest cement manufac-turers in India, Birla Corporation

exceeded its prescribed CSR budget by spending approximately Rs 3.48 crore in 2019-20. The company has spent an ad-ditional amount of Rs36 lakh over and above its prescribed budget, on its CSR activities.As per the company’s annual report, its average net profits for the last three finan-cial years, stood at Rs 156.17 crores. Thus, the company’s prescribed CSR budget was calculated as Rs 3.12 crores (2% of the net profit).It says, “The Company has mapped dis-advantaged, vulnerable and marginalised stakeholders viz. communities in and around the areas of its significant oper-ations, and is actively working towards their inclusive growth as part of the com-pany’s CSR efforts.”The company runs initiatives in the areas of health care including preventive health care, sanitation, providing safe drinking water, education, skill development lead-ing to creation of alternative employment, Infrastructure development and environ-mental sustainability. Its efforts on envi-ronmental sustainability includes agro forestry, conservation of natural resources and maintaining quality of soil, air and

CSR project/activity identified Sectors A m o u n t spent (in Rs lakh)

Contribution to multi specialty hospital promoting health care activities

Healthcare 165.85

Drinking water availability, eye check-up camps and surgery, preventive health check-ups camps, adolescent health program, awareness on sanitation, construction & renovation of solutions

Health, Wa-ter, Sanitation

78.50

Promotion of primary and secondary education and as-sistant for schools infrastructure development

Education 41.32

Vocational training and micro enterprise development program for women empowerment

Women Em-powerment

4.55

Improved animal husbandry program, advance agricul-tural practices & environmental sustainability

Livelihood & Environmen-tal Sustain-ability

31.63

Promotion of rural sports, cultural initiatives, support to district administration for good governance and support to old age home

Sports and Cultural Ini-tiatives

6.96

Rural development project Rural Devel-opment

8.81

Village development Village Adop-tion

10

Total 347.62

water, all directed towards helping neigh-bouring communities, including disad-vantaged, vulnerable and marginalised stakeholders and being instrumental in cultivating their progress.The company claims that it has a well-es-tablished CSR policy to achieve the de-sired target in its focus areas including ed-ucation, healthcare, water, infrastructure and enhancement of livelihood of rural

● Prescribed budget: Rs 3.12 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 3.48 Cr● Key CSR areas: Health, Educa-tion, Livelihood

poor.The four-member CSR Committee of the company which includes Harsh V Lodha (Chairman), Vikram Swarup, Brij Behari Tandon and Dhruba Narayan Ghosh, met twice in 2019-2020. First meeting of its CSR Committee was held on May 3, 2019 and the second was organised on Novem-ber 5, 2019. T

CSR Budget Analysis


Exceeding CSR Expectations: Asian Paints spends Rs 75 crore; exceeds prescribed budget by 30 %

India’s leading multi-national paint com-pany Asian Paints has spent a total of Rs

74.6 Crore in the financial year 2020-21, exceeding the prescribed CSR budget by close to 30%.As per the company records, the overall CSR spent of Rs 75 Crore included Rs 15 Crores as contribution by the Company to Central & State Government towards COVID-19. As per the company officials, the contributions were made to various State Disaster Management Authori-ties & PM CARES Fund to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.The Mumbai-headquartered company had a prescribed CSR budget of Rs 57.51 crore for the year 2019-20. Priority areas for company’s CSR initiatives included health, education and vocational training.“During the financial year ended 31st March, 2020, the Company incurred CSR Expenditure of Rs 74.64 crores. The CSR initiatives of the Company were under the thrust area of health & hygiene, edu-cation, water management and vocational training,” the company said, adding, “the

CSR activities run by the company bene-fitted people of more than 50 villages in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gu-jarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kar-nataka and Tamil Nadu.”Asian Paints is in the business of manufac-turing, selling and distribution of paints, coatings, products related to home decor, bath fittings and related services. The Av-erage Net Profit of the Company for last 3 financial years stood at Rs 2,875.26 Crore.

Accordingly, the prescribed CSR budget, calculated as 2 % of company’s average net profit over last three years was Rs 57.51 Crore.The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee at the company is head-ed by Malav Dani who is the non-execu-tive director at the company. Malav Dani is the Managing Director of Hitech Cor-poration Limited.Asian Paints: Key CSR activities under-taken in 2019-20Health and hygiene

Static Clinic: During the year, the com-pany established four static clinics near its manufacturing locations (Mysuru, Pa-tancheruKasna, Khandala), in association with Piramal Swasthya. The static clinics address RMNCH+A (reproductive,ma-ternal, newborn and child health + ad-olescent),non-communicable and com-municable diseases, eye care and general OPD through screening and identifica-tion,ante-natal services, post-natal check-ups, hygiene etc.The clinic also provides free laboratory examinations for random blood sugar, urine, haemoglobin, malaria,pregnancy etc. Additionally, eye test for visual acu-ity, lipid profile, among other concerns are also addressed. During FY 2019-20, around 20,900 beneficiaries received treatment from these clinics.Mobile Medical Units (MMUs): The MMUs were set up to reach out to com-munities across Kasna,Rohtak, Patanche-ru, Sriperumbudur, Visakhapatnam-,Khandala, Mysuru. In association with HelpAge, the company had been running 6 MMUs and this year it launched one MMU in Visakhapatnam with Piramal Swasthya.The MMUs provide consultations, free medicines, basic diagnostics,referral to government hospitals, among others spe-cially to those who are aged or too sick to

Overall CSR spent of Rs 75 Crore included Rs 15 Crores as contribution by the Com-pany to Central & State Gov-ernment towards COVID-19

● Prescribed budget: Rs 57.51 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 74.6 Cr● Key CSR areas: Health, Voca-tional Training, Livelihood

CSR Budget Analysis


make it across to clinics or health centres. During the year, more than 1,54,000 treat-ments were provided to the beneficiaries. The Company’s MMUs were deployed in Mumbai and Khandala for disaster man-agement as well.Safar: It was an awareness programme to help improve life style of the truck-ers. As part of the initiative, mass com-munication techniques like nukkad na-tak (street plays), games, interpersonal communication sessions were used to to spread awareness on various health issues like ergonomic illnesses, skin dis-eases and gastritis,among others targeting truck drivers. The project areas included Kasna,Rohtak, Visakhapatnam, Mysuru, Patancheru, Khandala and Sriperum-budur. During the year, the programme covered the treatment of over 32,000 truckers, while reaching out to around 78,800 beneficiaries.Project Drishyam: The programme was conducted at Ankleshwar and catered to the diseases related to eyesight and distri-bution of spectacles. About 1,000 patients were treated under the project during the year.

Enhancing vocational skillsColour Academy: Under its vocational academy, the company undertook train-ing programmes on a multitude of sub-jects, such as designer finishes, emulsions, metal care, mechanisation,water proofing, wood finishes and wallpaper installation to help painters connect with lucrative professional opportunities in the industry.During the year, the company initiat-ed upskilling programmes for plumbers in Himachal Pradesh and carpenters in Chennai with an objective to increase their earnings and disseminate knowledge and awareness to apprise them of latest techniques.The company spent around Rs 26 crore on skilling around 1,47,000 people across its 50+ colour academy in India.Water ConservationSome of the interventions undertaken for water conservation included:● Installing rooftop rainwater harvesting units and recharge systems in villages and schools● Influencing irrigation practices and awareness on conservation of water in the

farmer community.● Recycling and reusing wastewater● Identifying water bodies near our loca-tions that need rejuvenating● Construction activities to increase ca-pacity for surface water storage● Desilting of surrounding lakes and pondsPond Restoration: The CSR activities were undertaken to enhanced surface water and groundwater resources in the villag-es of Badanavalu and Sindhuvelli. Three ponds were rejuvenated by increasing to-tal storage capacity by 45,200 KL. Addi-tionally, the embankments of ponds were strengthened by providing stone pitching.With this, groundwater recharging in the aquifers increased considerably benefit-ting over 70 farmers for irrigation of over 550 acres of agricultural land and cattle rearing.Check dam restoration: Under the pro-ject,check dam at Rojghat village in Gu-jarat was fortified and slit was cleared to increase the depth of the water catchment area of the dam, which created additional water potential of 11,320 KL. T

Zydus Wellness spends Rs 2.21 crore on CSR in FY 2019-20

Leading consumer wellness company Zydus Wellness exceeded its Corpo-

rate Social Responsibility (CSR) budget by a small margin in the financial year 2019-20. However, the company has seen reduced CSR budget this year in compari-son to the previous one.The company spent Rs 2.21 crore on its CSR activities as against the prescribed budget of Rs 2.20 crore approximately. As per the company’s annual report, its aver-age net profit for the last three financial years stood at Rs 110.08 crore. According-ly, the prescribed CSR budget was calcu-lated as Rs 2.20 crore.In its annual report, the company says, “It has spent Rs 2.21 crore towards CSR, being 2% of average net profit for previ-ous three years, computed as prescribed under the Companies Act, 2013 on educa-

tion and healthcare, including preventive healthcare.”However, the company had spent Rs 2.31 crore on its CSR activities in the financial year ending March 31, 2019, which was around Rs 10 lakh more than the current year.The CSR initiatives of the Zydus Wellness

In line with its policy, the company has contributed

towards education, health-care and social outreach

programs.are spearheaded by Zydus Foundation. Zydus Srishti encourages employee vol-unteerism and is completely an in-house effort. The team carries out initiatives in the field of education, health and research, it says.In line with its policy, the company has contributed towards education, health-care and social outreach programs and a majority of its CSR spending in the pre-

vious financial year has been in these ar-eas. To serve the needs of the patients and bring world-class medical education to the rural interiors of Gujarat, the compa-ny has set up the Zydus Medical College and Hospital at Dahod.Its annual report claims that the hospital provides free treatment including OPD, indoor, all investigations, surgeries, an-esthesia, oral medicines, injectables and food for patients. The Zydus Medical College is the first Medical College to be set up in Dahod and the first batch of the MBBS programme commenced in August 2018, it says.Pursuant to the provisions of section 135 of the Act and Rules made thereunder, the company has constituted a CSR Commit-tee which is chaired by Dr Sharvil P Patel. The other members of the Committee are Ganesh N Nayak and Savyasachi S Sen-gupta. The committee met thrice in the fi-nancial year ending on March 31, 2020. T

● Prescribed budget: Rs 2.20 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 2.21 Cr● Key CSR areas: Education,

Health, Social Outreach Programme


CSR 2019-20: HDFC Bank increases CSR spend by 20%; Spends Rs 535 Crore

● Prescribed budget: Rs 535 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 534 Cr● Key CSR areas: Education, Livelihood, Vocational Training

India’s leading banking company HDFC spent a total of Rs535 Cr on various

CSR activities in the year 2019-20, an in-crease of 20% over the amount spent last year. The CSR spend included a contribu-tion of Rs 70 Cr to the PM CARES Fund to support the government’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.Last year, the company had spent a total of Rs 443.77 Cr on various CSR projects.As per the company officials, the CSR spend in this year exceeded a little over the CSR budget as prescribed under sec-tion 135 of Companies Act, 2013. For the year 2019-20, the average net profit in the previous three financial years stood at Rs 26,680 crore. Accordingly, the company has a CSR obligation of Rs 534 Cr for this year.The company expressed its commitment to further boost the CSR activities in the years to come. “The Bank has spent 2.01% (previous year: 2.02%) of its average net profit for the last three financial years as part of its CSR for the year ended March 31, 2020,” the HDFC Bank officials said,

adding, “As a responsible bank, we have approached the mandatory requirements of CSR spends positively. The Bank con-tinues to evaluate strategic avenues for CSR expenditure in order to deliver max-imum impact. In the years to come, the Bank will further strengthen its processes as per requirement.”The HDFC Bank implemented its CSR programmes through its umbrella CSR brand, Parivartan which denotes change. According to the company, Parivartan aims to bring about a transformation in

the communities in which the Bank op-erates through multiple initiatives in the areas of Education, Skill Training and Livelihood Enhancement, Health Care, Environmental Sustainability and Rural Development.The key partners which the Bank part-nered to implement its CSR programmes sector-wise are listed below:Promotion of Education:Bangalore Oniyavara Seva Coota, CBM India Trust, International Foundation for

The Bank spent 2.01% of its average net profit for the last

3 financial years as part of its CSR

Research and Education, K. C. Mahindra Education Trust, Light of Life Trust, Mag-ic Bus India Foundation, Moinee, Save the Children India, Way of MumbaiRural Development:Abhyuday Sansthan, Action for Agricul-tural Renewal in Maharashtra AFARM, Action for Food Production, Action for So-cial Advancement, Aga Khan Foundation, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme In-dia,Ambuja Cement Foundation, AROH Foundation, BAIF Development Research Foundation, Centre for Advance Research and Development, Citizens Foundation, Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Ini-tiatives, Family Health India, Foundation forEcological Security, FXB India Surak-sha, Gram Vikas, Gramin Vikas Trust, Gramya Vikash Mancha, Haritika, Indo GlobalSocial Service Society, Integrated Development Foundation, KGVK, Krushi Vikas Va Gramin Prashikshan Sanstha, M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation, Manjari Foundation, MYRADA, Nation-al Institute of Women Child and Youth Development,Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra, Network For Enterprise Enhancement and Development Support, Participatory Action forCommunity Empowerment, Participatory Action for Community Em-powerment, Peoples Action for National Integration,Prayatn Sanstha, Professional Assistance for Development Action, S.M. Sehgal Foundation, Sahbagi Shikshan Kendra,Sai Jyoti Gramodoyog Samaj Sewa Samiti, Sanjeevani Inst. for Empowerment and Development, Shikhar Yuva ManchSkill Training and Livelihood Enhance-mentHead Held High Foundation, Jan Jagran Sansthan, Orion Education Society, Pan IIT Alumni Reach for India Foundation.Other Donations:Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti, Charities Aid Foundation, Com-mon Service Centre (CSC), Emancipac-tion India Foundation, Foundation for Promotion of Sports and Games, Grow Trees, Isha Outreach, Jai Vakeel Foun-dation and Research Centre, Oxfam In-dia, Rajni Patel Memorial Foundation, Roti Foundation, The Aangan Trust. The Bank’s CSR efforts are led by a CSR com-mittee headed by Umesh Chandra Saran-gi who is also an independent director in company. T

CSR Budget Analysis


Tata Steel exceeds prescribed CSR budget by 11%, focuses on long term growth● Prescribed budget: Rs 173.5 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 193 Cr● Key CSR areas: Education, Health, Livelihood

Leading steel-company, Tata Steel has exceeded Corporate Social Responsi-

bility (CSR) expectations by spending Rs 19.46 crore over and above the prescribed CSR budget in the financial year 2019-20.The company spent Rs 192.99 crore un-der its CSR activities in the financial year ending March. Its average net profit for the past three financial years stood at Rs 8,676.66 crore. Accordingly, the pre-scribed CSR budget, calculated as 2% of company’s average net profit over the past three years was Rs 173.53 Crore. As per the company claims, number of the beneficiaries under its CSR activities has been increasing every year. In financial year 2018, it had reached to around 11 lakh which increased to 14 lakh this year. (See the graph for year-wise increase in its reach).The company’s CSR arm works major-ly on projects relating to health, access to drinking water, education, livelihood, sports and infrastructure development, among others.“We plan to make a meaningful difference to the lives of more than 2 million people by 2025”, the company said in its annual

CSR Budget Analysis

report.Tata steel claims that its CSR programmes are designed to create replicable large-scale models to address the most press-ing community challenges on education, health, tribal identity and livelihoods. Focused programmes on disability, agri-culture, water conservation, rural sport, nutrition and urban slum development emphasise on continuous reduction of in-equities in society and empower the local community.The company says that it has designed its CSR strategy around three objectives: ac-tualise change models to address core de-velopment gaps in Jharkhand and Odisha, while being replicable at a national scale (through four signature national scale). And also, enable significant and lasting improvement of communities staying close to operating locations (through nine Proximate Community Develop-ment programmes). Third objective is to

embed a societal perspective in key busi-ness decisions as an enabler to ensure community interests. The CSR arm of the company works majorly in the states like, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Ma-harashtra.Impact of its Proximate Community Development programmes● 17,032 farmers benefited through agri-culture productivity techniques● 177 water harvesting structures con-structed largely for agricultural use and partly for domestic use● 700+ children covered from more than 3,000, with 189 mainstreamed. Other than this, 10 residential and non-residen-tial facilities in Jamshedpur (capacity of 1,000) under Masti Ki Pathshala. And also 5,504 youth enrolled, 2,733 youth trained and 2,197 youth were placed.● 5,504 youth enrolled, 2,733 youth trained and 2,197 youth placed/ self-em-ployed by various skill enhancement pro-


Sector CSR project or activities identified Amount(in Rs cr)Health Promoting health care including preventive Health-

care and Sanitation44.37

Drinking Water Making Available Safe Drinking Water 6.00Education Promotion of Education including Special Educa-

tion73.92

Livelihood Employment enhancing Vocational skills especially to Women, Children and Differently- abled

24.48

Environment Environmental sustainability, agroforestry, animal welfare, resource conservation, maintaining quality of soil, air, water

2.76

Ethnicity Protection and restoration of national heritage, Pro-motion of art, culture, handicrafts, setting up public libraries etc

9.57

Sports Promotion of Rural, Nationally recognised, Paralympic and Olympic sports especially training

8.16

Rural & Urban Infrastructure

Rural development projects (infrastructure and other developments)

8.66

Disaster Manage-ment

Disaster management, including relief, rehabilita-tion, and reconstruction activities

5.88

grammes.● 311 persons reached through Sabal Centre and various disability linked pro-grammes.● 14,822 women reached under empow-erment programmes through SHGs and ~5,000 women engaged in enterprise de-velopment and social activities.● 53,844 youth engaged through different sports activities● 454 youth experienced outdoor leader-ship camps● In response to the COVID-19 pandem-ic, the company reached out to commu-nities towards the end of March 2020, impacting over 23,000 lives as a precursor to a coordinated response that eventual-ly reached out to around 8,02,095 lives in subsequent months.Tata Steel’s CSR and Sustainability Com-mittee includes Deepak Kapoor (Chair-person), OP Bhatt, T V Narendran and Koushik Chatterjee. During the financial year 2019-20, the company’s CSR com-mittee met thrice, says the annual report.Tata Steel’s operations require significant resettlement and rehabilitation of indig-enous communities residing in the prox-imity of its operating sites. The company

IMAGE NOT INCLUDED




gives credit to its CSR team for ensuring highest standards of human rights as part of rehabilitation and resettlement, both before and after project completion.

The company won the Environmental Stewardship award and World CSR Con-gress, for its sustainable usage of steel-making slag in road applications. T


● Prescribed budget: Rs 27.6 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 27.8 Cr● Key CSR areas: Skill Development, COVID support, Women Empowerment

CSR 2019-20: Dabur spends Rs 27.8 Cr; Major focus on nutrition needs, health and environment

Dabur, India’s leading FMCG compa-ny in Ayurvedic medicine and nat-

ural consumer products, has continued its upward trend on spending CSR funds with a total of Rs 27.8 crore spent on vari-ous initiatives in the year 2019-20.The company had spent Rs 26.35 Crore on its CSR activities last year.This year the company had a prescribed CSR budget of Rs 27.6 crore. However, it exceeded the budget by Rs 20 lakh. The prescribed CSR budget of a company is calculated as 2% of its average profit over last three years. For Dabur, the average net profit over last three years (2016-19) stood at Rs 1379.81 Cr.The company founded in 1884 by S K Burman and currently being run by the 5th generation of the family continued to carry majority of its CSR activities in alignment of its businesses.The company spent around half of its CSR budget on programmes directed to meet nutrition needs of poor & needy. The CSR spent on the programme that was run across India stood at Rs 13.95 crore.Fur-ther, it spent around Rs 1.37 crore on pro-grammes for addressing health care needs of poor & needy across India.On Environment Sustainability projects across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar

Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, Assam, the company spent around Rs 2.25 crore. In addition, it spent more than Rs 1 Crore on plastic waste re-cycling and disposal in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.The company also spent more than Rs 1.5 crore on School Support Programmes like renovation work, sanitation facilities, benches & desks, potable water facility, educational aids such as libraries learning paintings etc in Rajasthan, Assam, J&K, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.The majority of the CSR activities run by the company was undertaken either di-rectly or its own trust – Jivanti Welfare and Charitable Trust.The CSR committed at the company is headed by Dr. Ajay Dua who is also the Independent Director at the company. The CSR committee met four times during the financial year 2019-20.Dabur CSR: COVID support initiativesAs part of COVID support initiatives, the company supported Government’s efforts to endure the social and economic im-pacts of the Corona Virus pandemic. It re-aligned its CSR strategy and immediately commenced activities aimed at providing relief to COVID patients, frontline Police, Health and Sanitation workers, migrant workers and community members during these unprecedented times. The total spend on COVID related relief work was around Rs 1 Cr.The key initiative of the company includ-ed Supporting the 10,000-bed COVID Centre in Delhi, rolling a mobile testing

van in Noida, providing protective Kits for frontline Police Personnel, and distri-bution of hygiene and safety kits for com-munities.The Dabur Group also established a ‘Dabur Care Fund for COVID-19’, to protect lives and livelihood, and support those affected by the COVID-19 pandem-ic. Further, the company also earmarked a fund of Rs 21 Crore towards Relief efforts inFY 2020-21 to meet immediate needs of those most affected by the pandemic.Health campsThe company runs a Wellness Centre in the walled city area of Delhi offering health check-ups and subsidised medi-cines to public, particularly from the mi-nority community. In the year 2019-20, it conducted 1,208 General Health Camps where a total of 1,52,349 patients were ex-amined.Skill developmentAt its Skill Development Centres in Uttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Assam & Rajasthan, the CSR programmes run by the company provided rural girls training on various crafts like Cutting-Tai-loring, Beauty Care, Handicraft etc.The company also launched of ‘Fem Beau-ty Academy’ in rural Uttar Pradesh to of-fer Advanced Beauty Training. As part of such initiatives, a total of 1,011 rural girls and women were trained in FY 2019-20.It also joined hands with NIIT Founda-tion to offer Computer Education and Training to rural boys and girls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

FY 2017-18 FY 2017-19 FY 2019-20

23.7

4

Amount Spent on CSR Activities

26.3

5

27.8

0

CSR Budget Analysis

As part of our Women Empowerment and Financial Inclusion interventions, the company helped women form Self-Help Group (SHGs) and Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) to run small businesses. T


Alembic Pharmaceuticals spends Rs 13.29 crores on CSR activities, focuses on health, education, environment

● Prescribed budget: Rs 13.29 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 13.29 Cr● Key CSR areas: Education, Health, Disaster Relief

Multinational pharmaceutical com-pany, Alembic Pharmaceuticals

spent Rs 13.29 crores on its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in the financial year 2019-20. The company works in Vadodara, Chhota Udepur and Panchmahal districts and has identified education, health, water, sanitation & hy-giene, sports, art & culture, environment, livelihood, community infrastructure, community safety and employee engage-ment as its primary focus areas.As per its annual report, the company’s average net profit for the past three fi-nancial years, stood at Rs 663.90 crores. Accordingly, its prescribed CSR budget, calculated as 2% of the net profit was Rs 13.29 crores. The company spent its CSR fund majorly on education, health, im-proving life of tribal people and also miti-gating disasters.However, the company’s prescribed CSR budget in 2019-20 was reduced by ap-proximately Rs 1 crore this year as com-pared to Rs14.28 crore in 2018-19.About impact assessment of its social pro-grammes, Chairman of its CSR committee

Chirayu Amin says, “the company con-ducts impact assessment of its CSR initia-tives through feedback collected from the beneficiaries of projects undertaken. Var-ious projects are undertaken with Gov-ernment and Semi-Government agencies that have their monitoring mechanisms and impact assessment systems. We be-lieve that our initiatives have genuinely covered and benefited large number of beneficiaries”.

In its annual report, the company says that in May 2015, it set up Alembic CSR Foundation (ACSRF) to drive its corpo-rate responsibility initiatives. The Com-pany’s CSR programmes are implemented through various ‘Non-Profit Organisa-tions’, which include Alembic CSR Foun-dation, Bhailal Amin General Hospital, Rural Development Society, Uday Educa-tion Society and others.Areas where the company contributed

The company spent its CSR fund majorly on education,

health, im proving life of trib-al people and also miti gating

disasters

under its CSR initiativesEducation● Contributed for community outreach programmes, school education develop-ment for students of school run by Rural Development Society at multiple pro-grammes in Panchmahal, Gujarat. It spent Rs 2.44 crores through IA-Alembic CSR Foundation.● Adopted schools in tribal/backward ar-eas across Gujarat. It spent Rs 0.42 crore through IA-Alembic CSR Foundation on this.Contributed Rs 0.19 crore to education facilities in Vadodara, Gujarat and in Sik-kim and Rs 0.16 crore on training and workshops to children, youths and teach-ers in Vadodara and Mumbai.Rural development projectsRuns Village Development Programmes in Vadodara (Karkhadi), & (Sindhrot) & Panchmahal (Panelav), Gujarat and spent Rs 1.78 crores through IA-Alembic CSR Foundation.Disaster relief activitiesContributed Rs0.29 crore towards Disas-ter Relief including COVID-19.SanitationThrough IA-Alembic CSR Foundation, it spent Rs 1.11 crore on building toilets and educating the community in Vadodara, Panchmahal in Gujarat and also in Sik-kim.Promotion and development of tradi-tional arts and handicraftsContributed towards promotion and de-velopment of Arts and Handicrafts in Va-dodara, Panchmahal in Gujarat & Mum-bai in Maharashtra. It spent Rs 43 crore. It spent the amount through IA-Alembic CSR Foundation.Healthcare including preventive health-care● Runs Blood Transfusion Centre, Can-cer Care Centre & Medical Camps in Va-dodara, Gujarat & Sikkim as well. It spent Rs 0.35 crore on these activities through IA-Alembic CSR Foundation.● Contributed Rs 0.17 crore towards med-ical assistance & treatment to socially & economically backward persons.Sports PromotionThe company contributed Rs 0.35 crore towards sports promotion in Vadoda-ra Gujarat. Implementing agency for the program is IA-Alembic CSR Foundation.T

CSR Budget Analysis


Jubilant Life Sciences spends Rs 4.4 Cr on CSR in 2019-20; focuses on livelihood, health, education

Global pharmaceutical company Ju-bilant Life Sciences has spent Rs 4.4

Crore on its various Corporate Social Re-sponsibility initiatives in the financial year 2019-20.The company which made record prof-it with improvement in margins led by growth in the Pharmaceuticals and Drug Discovery & Development Solutions seg-ments in the year 2019-20, spent 16 % more on its CSR activities as compared to the previous year. The company’s total profit for the year was Rs 3,21.10 Crore.The average net profit of the company for the last three financial years was Rs 221.88 Crore. Accordingly, the prescribed CSR

budget for the company, calculated as 2% of the amount, was Rs 4.4 crore. Thus, the

● Prescribed budget: Rs 4.4 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 4.4 Cr● Key CSR areas: Education, Health, Livelihood

company spent 100% of the prescribed CSR amount on activities related to the

CSR Project Sectors covered A m o u n t Spent (in Rs Crore)

Health (Arogya and Swasthya Prahari)

Eradicating hunger, poverty and malnutrition, promoting health care including preventive health care and sanitation and making avail-able safe drinking water

1.16

Education (Mus-kaan)

Promoting education, including special edu-cation and employment enhancing vocational skills especially among children, women, el-derly and the differently-abled and livelihood enhancement projects

1.06

Livelihood (Nayee Disha)

Promoting education, including special edu-cation and employment enhancing vocational skills especially among children, women, el-derly and the differently-abled and livelihood enhancement projects

1.44

Rural Development Rural Development (Local Area Develop-ment)

0.78

CSR Budget Analysis


social sector.The company officials say that the “Jubi-lant as a responsible corporate works in the line of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a strong focus on social per-formance indicated in the CSR project of the organisation.”Last year also, the company had met 100% CSR obligation by spending around Rs 3.8 Crore.CSR Implementation through 4-P modelThe company’s all CSR initiatives were conceptualised and implemented through Jubilant Bhartia Foundation (JBF), the so-cial wing of Jubilant Bhartia Group. The JBL was established in 2007 as a not-for-profit organisation and its works on 4P model (Public-Private-People-Partner-ship) for empowering communities.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Jubilant is the commitment of businesses

to contribute to sustainable economic de-velopment by working with the employ-ees, their families, the local community and the society at large to improve their lives in ways that are good for business and for its development, the company says.During the year 2019-20, the company fo-cused on four major areas below:● Project Arogya and Swasthya Prahari: Improving health indices through innova-tive services and promoting health seek-ing behaviour● Project Muskaan: Universalising ele-mentary education and improving qual-ity parameters for primary education through community involvement● Nayee Disha: Enhancing employability through vocational training● Rural Development: Local Area Devel-opment.

All the CSR activities were undertaken in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.Jubilant Life Sciences CSR: Where the CSR money was spent?As per the company’s financial report it successfully executed all the planned CSR projects by spending the money outlay for each of the CSR projects.Jubilant Life Sciences Limited is an inte-grated global pharmaceutical and life sci-ences company engaged in Pharmaceuti-cals, Life Science Ingredients and Other businesses including Drug Discovery Solutions and India Branded Pharmaceu-ticals.The CSR activities at Jubilant Life Scienc-es are led by non-executive independent director Ashok Misra who is designated as the Chairman -Sustainability & CSR Committee at the company. T

IMAGE NOT INCLUDED





CSR 2019-20: M&M spends Rs 127 Cr on CSR; exceeds prescribed budget by Rs 20 Cr

Leading vehicle manufacturer Mahin-dra & Mahindra has spent Rs 126.59

Crore on various CSR activities in finan-cial year 2019-20. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure of the Indian Multi-national company head-quartered in Mumbai, exceeded the pre-scribed budget by a significant 19%.“In Financial year 2020-21, M&M in-vested a total of Rs 126.59 crore in vari-ous CSR projects to positively impact the communitiesin which we operate,” the company said in its financial statement.The CSR money spent by the company also included Rs. 20 crores contributed to the ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund’ (PM CARES Fund).The average net profit of the company for last three financial years stood at Rs. 5,328.18 Crore. Accordingly, the pre-

scribed CSR budget for the year 2019-20, calculated as 2 % of the average annual profit of the company over last three years, was Rs 106.56 Crore.However, the company led by Anand Ma-hindra spent Rs 20 Crore more than the prescribed budget on the CSR activities.M&M – Key CSR projects:

● Prescribed budget: Rs 106.56 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 126.59 Cr● Key CSR areas: Education,

Health, Social Outreach Programme

Some of the key projects undertaken by the company below:Project Nanhi Kali: Nanhi Kali is M&M’s flagship CSR project that supports the ed-ucation of underprivileged girls in India. Currently, the project supports the educa-tion of 1,74,681 Nanhi Kalis across 6,001 academic support centres, in 9 states.The project provides 360-degree support to girls from Class 1 to 10, including two hours of free after-school remedial classes every day, and an annual school supplies

The CSR money spent by the company included Rs. 20

crores contributed to the PM CARES Fund

kit to enable them to attend school with dignity.Mahindra Pride Schools (MPS): The Mahindra Pride School is a unique 90-day livelihood training programme for youths from socially and financially disadvan-taged communities. With a 100% place-ment record, the nine schools in Pune, Patna,Chandigarh, Srinagar, Hyderabad, Varanasi and three in Chennai, trained and placed 6,045 students in FY 2019-20.The company additionally trained 1,01,391 students through 2,374 Mahin-dra Pride Classrooms conducted through ITIs, Polytechnic and Arts & Science Col-leges in 16 States.Project Hariyali: With the aim of adding 1 million trees to India’s greencover every year, Mahindra Hariyali was launched in 2007. The Mahindra Group planted over 1.52 million trees in FY 20 under the pro-ject,out of which Mahindra & Mahindra planted 1.32 million trees, taking the total tally to 17.93 million trees.Saving Lives with Safer Roads: The com-pany partnered with Save LIFE Founda-tion and Maharashtra State Road Devel-opment Corporation Limited (MSRDC)

CSR Budget Analysis


CSR Project Implementation areas Actual spent (in Rs Crore)

NANHI KALI –Providing Educational support (material& aca-demic) to under privileged girls in India through an after-school support program.

Across 9 states including: Andhra Pradesh,Gujarat, Karnataka,Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra,Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal

16.45

RISE FOR SAFE ROADS –Creating India’s first Zero Fatality Corridor on the Mumbai Pune Expressway through interventions in 4 Es i.e. Engineering, En-forcement,Education and Emergency Response and implement-ing the ADAPT™ Program through which safe driving training is given to long haul truck drivers.

Maharashtra 5.33

GYANDEEP – The program provides Scholarships, Digital Edu-cation, Career Guidance,Mentoring, Books & Stationary, Abacus Learning Module and Infrastructure Improvement support.

Maharashtra,Uttarakhand, Telanga-na,Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh

5.19

MAHINDRA PRIDE SCHOOL– Provide livelihood training for youth from socially &economically disadvantaged communities.

Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Kerala,Ma-harashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan,Tamil Nadu, Telangana, UttarPradesh, West Benga

15.00

SEHAT – The program provides Ambulance Services,regular Mo-bile Dispensaries,Medical Camps, Cancer Care programs, holistic HIV-AIDS Program, Mother & Child Care, Immunisation out-reach,Nutritional support, Providing Safe Drinking Water, Aware-ness Camps, Pest Control Services,Dialysis and Infrastructure Development.

Maharashtra,Uttarakhand, Telanga-na,Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand,Madhya Pradesh

4.79

SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN– Cleanliness and Awareness Drives. Construction of Toilets, adopting public Infrastructure for Development, maintenance and upkeeping.

Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Chandigar-h,Punjab

4.57

PROJECT HARIYALI – Tree plantation to improving green cover &protecting bio-diversity in the country. This also helps in pro-viding livelihood support to tribal farmers growing coffee in this region.

Araku, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana,Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,Punjab,Madhya Pradesh,Guja-rat

5.99

KRISHI MITR – The program includes micro nutrient soil test-ing, advisory services, drip irrigation, Agri extension services, dairy farming,permaculture farming,infrastructure development and deployment capacity building resulting in improvement in agricultural productivity Project Prerna – Empowering farmers through deployment of gender friendly farm equipment.

Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajas-than, Karnataka

6.39

PM CARES – Donation to ‘Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund’ to support COVID-19 Relief efforts.

National 20.00

*Only selected CSR projects have been listed above **Source: M&M Annual Report 2019-20

The CSR Committee at the company is headed by Dr Vishakha N Desai who is the Chairperson of the committee. Mr. Anand G. Mahindra is also the member of the CSR committee at M&M. T

to create India’s first Zero Fatality Cor-ridor on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway through interventions in 4Es i.e. Engi-neering, Enforcement,Education and

Emergency Response.For its CSR activities, the company won three awards at National CSR Awards Ceremony, organised by the Ministry of

Corporate Affairs. This included the Ex-cellence in CSR for its flagship CSR proj-ect Nanhi Kali.


Exide Industries recharged CSR activities with Rs 20 Crore in 2019-20● Prescribed budget: Rs 20.49 Cr● Actual Spend: Rs 20.76 Cr● Key CSR areas: Education, Health, Environment

India’s largest battery manufacturer, Ex-ide Industries spent Rs 20.76 Crore on

its CSR activities, slightly more than its prescribed CSR budget of Rs 20.49 Crore.During the year, the Kolkata headquar-tered energy storage and management solutions company, directed its CSR ex-penditure majorly towards health and ed-ucation related programmes.The average net profit of the Compa-ny for last three financial years stood at Rs 1024.28 Crore. Accordingly, the Pre-scribed CSR Expenditure (two percent of the averaged net profit over last three years) was Rs 20.49 crore. However, the company ended up spending Rs 27 lakh more on its Corporate Social Responsibil-ity projects.“The Company invested Rs. 2,076.00 Lakhs in FY 2019-20 for the successful ex-ecution of numerous CSR projects across all locations including the manufactur-ing units at Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and at the national level,” the Exide officials said.

The social investment projects at Exide revolve around the core thematic areas – basic education, health, environment management, women empowerment and community development – the main pil-lars of Exide’s CSR philosophy.As per the company, the execution of its CSR endeavours is aimed at empowering larger community for holistic sustainable development.Exide – CSR Project implementationThe company executed its CSR projects either directly or through its several part-ner organisations. Around three-fourth of the project was implemented by NGOs or government institutions.“Nearly 75.35 per cent of the total CSR in-vestments were executed through reputed NGOs/government institutions and gov-ernment schools. While 24.65 per cent of the investments for relevant projects were implemented through in-house and dedi-cated CSR teams at each plant led by the Central CSR team,” the CSR committee at Exide said.The company also provided its financial support for several COVID-19 related relief services. This included support for critical medical equipment, distribution of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) & personal sanitisation kits for medical professionals, health workers, police per-

sonnel, sanitation workers, general public and migrant workers at various locations around its manufacturing units and also at its Head Office in Kolkata.Exide – Key CSR activitiesOverall, the Company spent its CSR budget mainly for promoting education, support for health with special emphasis on COVID-19 relief services. Other CSR projects were in the areas of sanitation, making available safe drinking water, pro-moting environmental sustainability and conservation of natural resources, women empowerment and unique livelihood en-hancement programme which brought in inclusive growth, empowerment and in-sightful transformations within the bene-ficiary communities.The CSR projects run by the company made direct interventions through signif-icant social investments projects across all plant locations in Haryana, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Similar projects were also under-taken at the subsidiary plant locations in Maharashtra and Karnataka.In 2019-20, the company also engaged its employees to volunteer for programmes related to education. As per the company the employees were also engaged in CSR projects related to environmental, health and sanitation interventions ranging from

CSR Budget Analysis


CSR Project Location(State-wise)

Amount Spent (in Rs lakh)

Promoting health care including preventive health-care, sanitation & eradicating hunger, poverty and malnutrition

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Hary-ana, West Ben-gal

908.76

Promoting healthcare including preventive health care; promoting education; setting up homes for or-phans and measures for reducing inequalities faced by socially and economically backward groups and including special education especially among the dif-ferently-abled

Maharashtra, West Bengal

71.74

Women Empowerment through promoting education including special education and employment enhanc-ing vocation skills

West Bengal, Maharashtra

66.45

Promoting education among children, sanitation and making available safe drinking water, eradicating hun-ger, poverty and malnutrition, promoting health care including preventive health care, setting up homes for orphans and measures for reducing inequalities faced by socially and economically backward groups

Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand,

466.22

Promoting education especially among children, san-itation and making available safe drinking water & training to promote rural sport, nationally recognised sports

Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttarakhand

73.50

Promoting health care including preventive health care, sanitation & eradicating hunger, poverty and malnutrition

Haryana, Ma-h a r a s h t r a , Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttarakhand

299.74

Enduring environmental sustainability, ecological bal-ance, protection of flora and fauna, conservation of natural resources and maintaining quality of soil, air and water

Haryana, Ma-h a r a s h t r a , Tamil Nadu, K a r n a t a k a , West Bengal

115.29

The CSR committee at the company is chaired by Bharat D Shah who is also an Inde-pendent non-executive director at the company. T

tree plantation, creation of botanical garden, blood donation, HIV AIDs awareness camps to community waste clean-up campaigns.

Exide CSR activities: Where the money went?The major CSR activities undertaken by the company in the year 2019-20 is listed be-low:

» Monthly Magazine


» Corporate & NGO Listing


The CSR Universe is moving! Where are you?Find your answers here!

Stay tuned to TheCSRUniverse.com

to get unlimited access of


Just investing is not enough but the intent is crit-ical to drive the development of the communities and build a sus-tainable environ-ment.

Ms Alka Talwar is the brain behind Tata Chemicals’ Corporate Social

Responsibility (CSR) arm which has been consistently raising the bar for the Indian corporates. The Indian global company with interests in chemicals, crop protec-tion and specialty chemistry products recorded a grand CSR performance by spending 175 % of prescribed CSR budget in the year 2019-20.Much of the credit goes to Talwar who currently holds the position of Chief – CSR and Sustainability Officer at Tata Chemicals Limited.Ms Talwar has been working with the company in various roles for over 30 years now. She has been leading the company’s CSR models that go far beyond the mandatory provisions while ensuring that company’s CSR activ-ities are aligned with United Nation’s Sus-tainable Development Goals.In this interview with TheCSRUniverse, Talwar shares how she took a two-pronged approach to integrate COVID support initiatives in her CSR agenda. She details out the ways her team handled the CSR project implementation challenges posed by the COVID outbreak and quick adop-tion of digital mode to continue commu-nity support while sticking adhering to the COVID protocols.She also talks about CSR policies that can help strengthen the impact and also the scope of collective corporate approach towards making CSR scalable and more effective.

Interview Highlights● COVID Relief: We have adopted a two-pronged approach to tackle this un-precedented situation. One intervention focuses on supporting the government and the other one on supporting the local communities.● Tackling COVID challenges: We are moving many of our programs to dig-ital mode in rural areas.● New CSR opportunities: Corpo-rates can invest their CSR spends in skill-ing and upskilling youths, especially from the vulnerable communities to empower them and make them employment ready.● Thoughts on CSR policies: It is imperative for corporates to take on that responsibility and become the change makers in the society. Just investing is not enough but the intent is critical to drive the development of the communities and build a sustainable environment.● CSR Policy suggestion: There should be flexibility in the use of funds. The current mandate of spending 2% shifts the focus on spending rather than efficacy of the CSR projects. The compa-nies may choose to spend less in one year and more in the other as per the needs and requirement of the project plan.● CSR suggestions for Corpo-rates: corporates need to join hands and take up collaborative projects which will enhance the scale of the project. Exchange of learning & experiences among the cor-

“Greater flexibility in use of CSR funds can help corporates focus more on efficacy of CSR projects”Alka Talwar Chief – CSR & Sustainability Officer, Tata Chemicals Limited

CSR Interview

By Shweta Singh


porates would help identify successful CSR model and good practices.Full Interview with Ms Alka Talwar, Chief – CSR & Sustain-ability Officer at Tata Chemicals LimitedQ: How has CSR implementation at Tata Chemicals have been impacteddue to COIVD pan-demic?A: Tata Chemicals for decades has worked towards driving prosperity of the commu-nities. While this pandemic unleashed its effects across the globe, we did not let it deter us from continuing our CSR efforts.The COVID pandemic has brought a shift in the focus areas of interventions. We have adopted a two-pronged approach to tackle this unprecedented situation. One intervention focuses on supporting the government and the other one on sup-porting the local communities. Further, the ongoing CSR programs which needed direct interaction with the people have been kept on hold due to the lockdown and to avoid the risk of infec-tions to our frontline workers and our community.Q: Can you share details of your key COVID relief support for community?A: The immediate priority was the relief support to the local communities during lockdown. We supported over 53000 peo-ple from vulnerable communities with dry ration kits.We manufactured and supplied more than 1.18 million litres of disinfectant to the Government of Gujarat and 600,000 litres to BMC, Mumbai.At our manufacturing locations in Cud-dalore and Sriperimbudur, we supported the government health services with med-ical equipment and PPEs. We augmented the capacity of Mithapur Hospital and set up temporary isolation ward with about 100 beds.We engaged the women from Self Help Groups and artisans associated with our Okhai initiative to produce over 2.3 lakh masks in Mithapur and Cuddalore for dis-tribution to police and local communities, providing livelihood to and financially empowering 275 women, in times of cri-sis.Q: How are you continuing your CSR activities while adhering to

health services and improving awareness among community for healthy practices.In addition, due to the large number of people who have returned from the cities to the rural areas, there is a pressing need to provide sustainable livelihood opportu-nities to them.According to a joint report by the Inter-national Labour Organization (ILO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB ), 41 lakh youths in India have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. This reflects a major opportunity for India Inc. Corporates can invest their CSR spends in skilling and upskilling youths, especially from the vul-nerable communities to empower them and make them employment ready.Another emerging CSR opportunity is moving from a linear economy to foster-ing circular economy. With a greater stress on safety and hygiene during COVID-19, there has been an upsurge in the use of plastics, primarily in the form of masks, protective gears and shields. Recycling of this waste is critical for the health of the environment and corporates can emerge as the drivers for a sustainable change.Q: What is the budget outlay for your CSR activities in the finan-cial year 2020-21?A: Our budget outlay for the financial year 2020-21 is about 18Cr.Q: How your company’s focus area for CSR has evolved over the last 4-5 years?A: Since the inception of Tata Chemi-cals and TCSRD, a holistic approach has always been the way forward for us. We have adopted a participatory approach in designing need-based CSR programmes. These are implemented through Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development (TCSRD), Okhai Centre for Empower-ment, Uday Foundation, Ncourage Social Enterprise Foundation and in partnership with various government and non-gov-ernment institutions.Our CSR priorities are mainly;● Enriching the quality of life by creating sustainable livelihoods● Maintaining and conserving environ-ment and bio-diversity● Enabling the aspects of health, sanita-tion, nutrition, education● Building Social Capital for long-term sustainabilityIn the last few years, to further our efforts

the COVID protocols?A: We are moving many of our programs to digital mode in rural areas.We started online education classes for students studying in standards 7th to 10th in schools of Okhamandal taluka. Digital financial training – “Hu Pan Digital”, was conducted for 137 SHGs Members. On-line training program were arranged for farmers for creating awareness on agricul-ture practices.We also conducted digital trainings and provided market linkage support to peo-ple who are part of the entrepreneurship development program. Our social enter-prise, Okhai launched marketplace model during the lockdown to support artisan groups pan India to sell their products online.We are maintaining community connects

and engagement throughvirtual con-nects, small group meetings, phone calls and Whatsapp calls. We are also tapping on the community based organisations (CBOs)viz SHGs, ASHA workers, SMCs, village youth volunteers, entrepreneurs etc in planning & monitoring of the CSR projects and to reach out to the commu-nity.All the field staff has been advised to fol-low the local government guidelines on movement in the CSR geographic regions and follow the safety protocols.Q: What are the key emerging CSR opportunities and needs in the COVID scenario?A: The global health crisis has evidently brought into focus the need forimproved

The COVID pandemic has brought a shift in the focus areas of interventions. We

have adopted a two-pronged approach to tackle this un-precedented situation. One

intervention focuses on sup-porting the government and the other one on sup porting

the local communities.


and reach to a larger community, we have created two centers of excellence – Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Agriculture & Farm Excellence (C-SAFE) and Cen-tre for Sustainable Conservation Action for Protection of Ecosystems of the Seas (C-SCAPES), which focus on scientific research, piloting models, advocacy, ca-pacity building and field implementation through multi stakeholder engagement. To create self-sustaining models of devel-opment, we have set up social enterprises, Okhai and Ncourage Social Enterprise Foundation. Both these organizations help in creating livelihood options for the communities.Q: The CSR has fundamental-ly changed after the CSR was made mandatory by Companies Act 2013. It has been 7 years since then. What are your thoughts on CSR laws in India?A: India is the first country to legally make corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandatory and it has been a ground-breaking decision. Many more compa-nies now are contributing to community

development. The CSR law promotes the development of the economy and the cit-izens. It is imperative for corporates to take on that responsibility and become the change makers in the society.While this was mandated seven years ago,

we have a long way to go since companies need to ensure that these programmes are making a real difference. Just investing is not enough but the intent is critical to drive the development of the communi-ties and build a sustainable environment.Q: What can be the changes in the current CSR law/provisions that can help corporates in be-ing more productive and effec-tive in implementation of their CSR activities?A: One suggestion is that there should be

ANOTHER EMERGING CSR OP-PORTUNITY IS MOVING FROM A LINEAR ECONOMY TO FOSTER-

ING CIRCULAR ECONOMY

flexibility in the use of funds. The current mandate of spending 2% shifts the focus on spending rather than efficacy of the CSR projects. The companies may choose to spend less in one year and more in the other as per the needs and requirement of the project plan.In addition, the government has to ensure that there is a system to measure the ef-fectiveness of the CSR initiatives to gauge how citizens as well as the environment are benefitting.Q: What are your suggestions and message to your corporate colleagues on building a strong CSR environment in the country?A: My message is that the corporates need to join hands and take up collaborative projects which will enhance the scale of the project.Exchange of learning & expe-riences among the corporates would help identify successful CSR model and good practices.The companies which have recently initi-ated CSR, should look CSR as an import-ant pillar for long term sustainable busi-ness growth. T

IMAGE NOT INCLUDED





‘CSR laws have pushed for technical compliance whereas change is needed in boardroom mindset’

The Corporate Social Respon-sibility shouldn’t just be some-thing that com-panies do butshould be em-bedded in the culture of the organization.

Aman Pannu heads Corporate So-cial Responsibility (CSR) division

at DCM Shriram besides leading Corpo-rate Communication wing at the business conglomerate comprising agri-rural busi-ness, farm solution business, chlor-vinyl business, Power and Cement business, with a group turnover of more than Rs 7,000 crores.In this interview with TheCSRUniverse, Pannu elaborates on various Covid relief measures taken by her DCM Shriram af-ter the outbreak of the pandemic. Pannu says that her company has CSR budget outlay of about Rs 20 crore for the year 2020-21 and the COVID related community support have already been in-tegrated in most of its existing CSR pro-grammes.On India’s CSR policies, she opines that the laws only pushed companies towards technical compliance whereas the change in needed in mindsets in the boardroom. She says that Corporate Social Respon-sibility shouldn’t just be something that companies do but should be embedded in the culture of the organisation.Interview Highlights● Corporate Social Responsibility shouldn’t just be something that compa-nies do but should be embedded in the culture of the organisation.● We don’t simply hand out cheques, all our CSR programmes are well thought of and based on the needs of our communi-ties around our manufacturing units

● The CSR budget in DCM Shriram for 2020-21 is Rs 20 crore.Rs 15 crore COVID-19 contingency fund, from which Rs 10 crore contribution has already been made to the PM CARES fund.● Low internet service in villages is a chal-lenge which our team is facing constantly while implementing this program.● Collaboration and convergence should be part of implementation, monitoring and evaluation to create strong social im-pact.Full Interview with Ms Aman Pannu, Head – CSR at DCM ShriramQ: The CSR planning and imple-mentation has evolved in India since it was made mandatory by Companies Act 2013. What are your thoughts on CSR laws in India?A: The CSR laws and mandate have pushed companies towards technical compliance, but there is a need of changing mindsets in the Boardroom, as it is not only about complying with the law but changing the organizations’ outlook towards CSR. The Corporate Social Responsibility shouldn’t just be something that companies do but should be embedded in the culture of the organization.For us at DCM Shriram Corporate Social Responsibility forms the very core of all our activities and functions at which is a part of the DNA of our organization. We

CSR Interview

By Shweta Singh

Aman Pannu Head, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), DCM Shriram


have been contributing to the society and communities through our initiatives and responsible business practices, much before the Companies Act prescribed a mandatory CSR spend in 2014.The principle of giving back to the soci-ety stems from our visionary Founder- Sir Shri Ram. Our strategic business units nurture the rural communities through their CSR work in project villages across Kota in Rajasthan, Bharuch in Gujarat and Hardoi and Lakhimpur districts in Uttar Pradesh. We don’t believe in cheque-book philanthropy. We don’t simply hand out cheques, all our CSR programs are well thought of and based on the needs of our communities around our manufac-turing units. The company will continue to amplify its CSR programs by actively engaging with the communities and local NGO partners to leave a meaningful and long-lasting impact coming straight from the heart.Q: COVID crisis has thrown chal-lenges for CSR activities as well. What are the key initiatives you have taken to support fight against the pandemic?A: DCM Shriram has been supporting communities around its areas of opera-tions, with various impact generating ini-tiatives. We have taken a number of ini-tiatives for COVID relief. As part of our corporate social responsibility, we have set up a Rs 15 crore COVID-19 contingency fund, from which Rs 10 crore contribution has already been made to the PM CARES fund. The balance Rs 5 crore is committed for initiatives taken up by the company to help communities and towards relief funds to state Governments.Further, we have repurposed our man-ufacturing facilities in Kota (Rajasthan) and Bharuch (Gujarat) to produce So-dium hypochlorite, a disinfectant and donated approximately 12 lakh liters to various state authorities for sanitization purposes. In our two distilleries at Ha-riawan and Ajabapur in Uttar Pradesh, we have been producing hand sanitizers. Approximately 10,000+ litres of the same have been donated to the communities, Community Health Centers and district administrations.We also partnered with Tata Trusts for resource support to supply hand sanitizer and sodium hypochlorite for a period of

your CVOID related CSR initia-tives?A: Tele-consultation has helped increase our reach while maintaining social dis-tance and also providing the required care and treatment through proper consulta-tion. However, an uninterrupted internet service in villages is a challenge which our team is facing constantly while imple-menting this program.Q: What is the budget outlay for your CSR activities in the finan-cial year 2020-21?A: The CSR budget in DCM Shriram for 2020-21 is Rs. 20 Crore.Q: How your company’s focus area for CSR has evolved over the last 4-5 years?A: Our CSR programs are identified keep-ing in mind the need of the community, strengths and capabilities of our Business teams as well as Government priorities specific to the concerned geography in which the program is to be implemented. At present the Company focuses on the following sectors – Preventive Healthcare and Sanitation, Education, Vocational Skills and Livelihood; Environment Sus-tainability and Rural Development.In our project areas, the local panchayat and community plays an integral role in designing as well as implementing the projects. Our geographic location for the CSR projects are in the villages across in Rajasthan (Kota), in Gujarat (Bharuch), and in UP (Hardoi ad Lakhimpur). The Company’s manufacturing facilities are also located in these areas and the prox-imity helps us to regularly monitor these programs and interact with the beneficia-ries, thus maximizing impact.Q: What is the CSR outlook for your company for the next 2-3 years?A: We will keep undertaking a system-atic and participatory lifecycle approach, which will be followed across the CSR projects addressing multiple concerns. Going ahead, we hope to achieve scale in our programs pertaining to Sanitation, Education, Health, water conservation and rural development. This will help create a bigger impact from our CSR in-terventions. Our successful CSR models will also be replicated across business lo-cations. T

six months, these resources will be used in the Government hospitals of Gonda and Noida, which have been upgraded as COVID- 19 hospitals by Tata Trust. In Gurugram, DCM Shriram has also part-nered with Medeor to establish 150 beds with 25 critical care units exclusively ded-icated to treating COVID-19 patients.Q: What are the key emerging CSR opportunities and needs in the COVID scenario?A: The COVID-19 pandemic has an im-mediate need of handling the healthcare issue at hand, but in medium and long term, there is socio-economic impact and assessing the impacts of the crisis on so-cieties, economies and vulnerable groups is fundamental to tailor the responses

of governments and partners to recover from the crisis.The government has also allowed CSR in-vestment in COVID related research and development activities.We are also engaged our extensive net-work of stakeholders, including local community representatives, NGO part-ners, ASHA workers etc to create aware-ness at mass level regarding COVID-19 with a message of ‘stay home, stay safe and maintain social distancing’.Q: What are the challenges you have faced while implementing

The COVID pandemic has brought a shift in the focus areas of interventions. We

have adopted a two-pronged approach to tackle this One

intervention focuses on supporting the government and the other one onoach to tackle this unprecedented situation. One intervention focuses on supporting the government and the other

one on sup porting the local communities.


The CSR law in In-dia can become morebusiness focused so that the or-ganisationsspending on CSR can also create a businesscase for them-selves. This will providethem with extra motivation to spend money ina better and re-sponsible way.

Havells India spent over Rs 20 crore on CSR activities in the year 2019-20.

The company has been focussing on sus-tainable CSR projects especially focussed on ‘development and well-being of chil-dren’.In this interview with TheCSRUniverse, Anil Sharma, Vice-President and CSR Head of the FMEG (Fast moving electri-cal goods) and consumer durable compa-ny shares the evolution of CSR activities at Havells over last one-and-a-half decade.Sharma, who also heads company’s Cor-porate Communication wing, elaborates the COVID relief measures that company took amid the challenges COVID scenar-io. He also shares his suggestions towards making CSR implementation more effec-tive and speaks on collaboration among corporates to amplify the CSR impact.Interview Highlights● Challenge: Due to COVID, our projects like mid-day meal, building of bio-toilets, distribution of re-usable sanitary pads to girls have been halted completely.● CSR Budget: Havells CSR budget for Financial Year 2020-21 is Rs 20.97 Crore● CSR policy suggestion: Government needs to step up efforts in sensitizing MS-MEs towards spending on CSR● Suggestion for CSR colleagues: Long-term CSR approach, Projects should be backed by proper research, Knowledge sharing among peers.Interview with Anil Sharma, Vice Presi-dent and Head of Corporate Communica-

tions, CSR and SustainabilityQ: What has been the impact of COVID pandemic on your CSR implementation?A: Most of our CSR initiatives are direct-ed towards the growth and well-being of children and hence schools are the epi-centre of our CSR initiatives. Since begin-ning of the academic year, all schools are closed due to COVID-19, our efforts have also been impacted. Projects like mid-day meal, building of bio-toilets, distribution of re-usable sanitary pads to girls have been halted completely. Unavailability of manpower also impacted some other projects.Q: What relief measures did Havells take while adhering to the COVID protocols?A: Due to pandemic our mid-day meal kitchen was closed. With the permission of district administration, we started cooking food and distributed to poor and needy. All necessary safety protocols is-sued by the central and state governments were implemented and adhered to, keep-ing in mind the safety of our cooks and support staff. Since then, we have supplied over 4 lakh meals to people in need.Q: What is the budget outlay for your CSR activities in the finan-cial year 2020-21?A: Our CSR budget for Financial Year 2020-21 is Rs 20.97 Crore.Q: How your company’s focus area for CSR has evolved over

“Keys to building strong CSR culture – Long-term approach, research-backed projects & knowledge sharing”

CSR Interview

By Shweta Singh

Anil SharmaVP & Head - Corporate Communications, CSR & Sustainability, Havells India


the last 4-5 years?A: We have been doing CSR since 2005, long before it was made mandatory by the Government of India. Our focus areas had always been development and well-being of children and we have still maintained the same philosophy. We have expanded our focus area and have included other life stages of children as part of the CSR philosophy. Our eight pillars of CSR focus on different life stages of children:● Health & nutrition – We provide hy-gienic and nutritious mid-day meal to 60000 school children across 693 schools in Alwar district of Rajasthan which in-fact is one of the prime reasons for them to come to school.● Sanitation – We believe that WaSH (Water, Health and Sanitation) are criti-cal for ensuring overall development of children and their families. Through our Sanitation initiative, we build bio-toilets and distribute re-usable sanitary napkins thereby keeping them healthy.● Education – Along with the nutritious food and sanitation, we also provide ta-bles and benches to government schools which helps making studies enjoyable for children. We have also partnered with couple of foundations to provide financial help to the needy students.● Environment – With an aim to provide a clean environment to the society we plant over 5 lakh trees per yearSkill development – Once the students passes out from school, we help them in enhancing their skills by providing sup-port to ITIs in terms of infrastructure, lab equipment etc.● Heritage conservation – We want the students to know and feel proud about our history, therefore we also help in con-serving the rich heritage of India. Under this initiative, we are conserving 15th cen-

itoring its impact.Q: What other changes can help corporates in being more effec-tive in their CSR implementa-tion?A:The CSR law in India can become more business focused so that the organisations spending on CSR can also create a busi-ness case for themselves. This will provide them extra motivation to spend money in a better and responsible way.Q: What is the CSR outlook for your company for the next 2-3 years?A: Our philosophy is to undertake initia-tives which are long term in nature that will have a lasting impact on the society. We will continue to expand on our cur-rent programs to more cities across the country. We intend to expand our mid-day meal kitchen, build more bio-toilets, provide re-usable sanitary pads to more and more girls and develop Skill Devel-opment centres for our youth to be more employable. We will also continue plant-ing trees with an objective of providing livelihood to villagers, contribute in de-veloping forests and also become wood and paper negative company.Q: What are your suggestions and message to your corporate colleagues on building a strong CSR environment in the country?A: My message would be:● To do things passionately and with a long-term approach.● We should have a clear mission and vision for the individual projects and it should be backed by proper research.● Share learnings so that people could learn from each other experiences.● Constantly measure the impact so as to refine projects as per emerging needs of the society T

tury monument Subz Burj in Delhi and also helping in constructing India’s first underground heritage museum beneath UNESCO world Heritage site- Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi.● Healthcare – Under this, we provide complete medical aid to needy Thalas-semic children● Humanitarian causes – We as an orga-nization have always stepped up during the time of national crisis and extend our support in all possible manner whether be it Kerala floods, Bihar floods, Tsunami, Kargil War etc.

Q: The CSR in India has evolved after it was made mandatory by Companies Act 2013. What are your thoughts on CSR laws in In-dia?A:The CSR law in India is gradually be-coming stringent and has helped organ-isations become more responsible and transparent. Corporates are accountable for the CSR spends and their actual im-pact on the society. I believe government through its revised laws has put the onus on organisations to spend their CSR bud-get judiciously. At the same time, the gov-ernment needs to step up efforts in sensi-tizing MSMEs towards spending on CSR, especially on areas that are critical to the growth of the nation and constantly mon-

The government needs to step up efforts in sensitizing MSMEs towards spending on CSR, especially on areas that

are critical to the growthof the nation


» Corporate and NGO Listing


» Monthly Magazine


As businesses navigate through unprecedenteddifficulties during this global pan-demic, it is im-portant for com-paniesto move beyond superficial do-nations and take accountability to empowertheir communi-ties.

Pradnya Shinde is Head – Corporate Sustainability at Voltas. She has more

than one-and-a-half decade of experience in aligning business growth with com-munity development projects aimed at driving social change and creating shared value. In the year 2019-20, she led CSR initiatives at Voltas with special focus on education and skill development areas.In this interview with TheCSRUniverse, she shares how Voltas CSR team respond-ed to the COVID crisis. She also talks about CSR law and shares insight on how CSR can be much more effective…Interview Highlights● In the past few years, there has been a conscious paradigm shift from chari-ty-based support to strategic intervention● Since COVID has affected millions of working people, skilling and training of the youth will play a crucial role going forward due to its sustainability factor● There is room for a lot more improve-ment as most companies still have a check-box approach to CSR.● We need stronger laws that encourage organisations to take accountability for improvement of the communities they operate in● that CSR efforts need to be need-based, strategic, inclusive and building sustain-ability at large● We plan to create a pool of 45,000 well-trained technicians by 2025 through skill development in the technical and non-technical streams with special atten-

tion to girls/women skillingComplete Interview: Pradnya Shinde, Head – Corporate Sustainability, VoltasQ: The COVID outbreak has brought a sudden change of di-rection for CSR also. What has been your CSR response to this crisis?A: In these difficult times, the Tata Group is coming together to help citizens of the country. Voltas’ Project Business Team has been roped in along with other Tata companies for setting up Isolation Cen-tres. Voltas is providing help in designing, supply chain and executional support of providing Ventilation in the Quarantine Centres created by Tata Team to Tata Proj-ects and Tata Consulting Engineers.Government has also approached the Group for making ventilators for the pa-tients. Voltas UPBG R&D and DPG team has been roped in to support Tata Motors team for the project.Voltas is also helping in the conversion of existing medical facilities such as AIIMS, Bhatinda, and Guwahati Medical College and Hospital to convert standard wards into Covid-19 isolation wards using smart ventilation solutions. This includes build-ing test centers to predictive maintenance of Chillers in Hospitals and Pharmaceu-tical companies that make life-saving drugs, thus impacting millions of lives. At Coimbatore the company has built a test centre at Kovai Medical College and Hospital to help the state contain the

“Stronger law needed to en-courage accountability in CSRimplementation”

CSR Interview

By Shweta Singh

Pradnya Shinde Head – Corporate Sustainability, Voltas


Covid-19 outbreak. Similar conversions are being undertaken by Voltas at KEM Hospital, Mumbai and Gauhati Medical College and Hospital, which are some of the facilities across the country being up-graded to strengthen India’s fight against the pandemic.Q: What are the key emerging CSR opportunities and needs in the COVID scenario?A: Initially, the immediate need was the provision of everyday resources for the daily wage earners who were the most impacted due to the lockdown. However, skilling and training of the youth will play a crucial role going forward due to its sus-tainability factor.Q: What is the budget outlay for your CSR activities in the finan-cial year 2020-21?A: The budget outlay for Voltas for the FY 2020-21 is Rs. 1083 Lakh.Q: How your company’s focus area for CSR has evolved over the last 4-5 years?A: In the past few years, there has been a conscious paradigm shift from chari-ty-based support to strategic intervention. While it is easy for companies to merely donate money to charity, businesses need to adopt a more engaging approach that has a deeper impact on the society. With this notion, we have been focusing on various skilling initiatives for boosting the employment rate of our country.Based on the community needs assess-ment exercised which was conducted in 2014-15, Voltas supported initiatives for quality Education. There were several quality Education initiatives carried out across Mumbai and Thane in last five years. The long-term projects essential-ly focused on teachers’ training, Reading habits among children through library projects and English Language develop-ment in vernacular Zilla Parishad schools. The company is able to reach out to over 13500 students from marginalized sec-tions and 2089 teachers through these projects.Q: Tell us more about your CSR livelihood programmes.A: With sustainability at the core, and with quality over quantity approach, between

provement as most companies still have a check-box approach to CSR.Q: What can be the changes in the current CSR law/provisions that can help corporates in be-ing more productive and effec-tive in implementation of their CSR activities?A: While the current CSR law is making companies re-evaluate their resources for the well-being of the society, CSR is more than just charitable giving. We need stron-ger laws that encourage organisations to take accountability for improvement of the communities they operate in.Q: What is the CSR outlook for your company for the next 2-3 years?A: With the society and economy needing the support of private sector more than ever before, we shall continue to expand our skilling initiatives. Hence, we will set aside 2% of our profits for the same an-nuallyWe are also planning to create a pool of 45,000 well-trained technicians by 2025 through skill development in the techni-cal and non-technical streams. We aim to equip aspirational India with much-need-ed industry expertise to generate employ-ment opportunities and bring about a positive change in the society. The Com-pany recognises the need to give special attention to girls/women skilling and hence would be making an extra effort to engage with them.Q: What are your suggestions and message to your corporate colleagues on building a strong CSR environment in the country?A: As businesses navigate through un-precedented difficulties during this global pandemic, it is important for companies to show solidarity. From a long-term perspective as well, it is important that organisations move beyond superficial donations and take accountability to em-power their communities. The pandemic has indeed given us a lot of insight with respect to sustainable development. It has highlighted the fact that CSR efforts need to be need-based, strategic, inclusive and building sustainability at large. T

the years 2008 – 2018, Voltas has put in place numerous CSR programs, under the aegis of Nation Building, Sustainable livelihood and Community Development. As a result of these programs, Voltas has formally trained and certified over 2500 refrigeration and AC technicians from unorganized sector under Recognition of Prior Learning in 2019. Voltas has also built 31 Skill training centres in partner-ship with reputed organizations across 14 States reaching out to over 12000 Youth from marginalized section of the society.In line with Tata’s Affirmative Action (AA) program, Voltas has also been conscious of reaching out to the most marginalised and vulnerable sections of the society, who are often from SC/ST communi-ties. As part of this, Voltas has partnered Pratham Skill Training Centre at Panvel.

It is an exclusive initiative for Affirmative Action (inclusion of SC/ST communities) which offers residential training course in Plumbing and Electrical trades. These courses were shortlisted considering their potential employment and assured gainful employment opportunities. The Panvel centre trains over 55% students from AA Category and the placement ratio of AA students for the centre is over 80%.Q: The CSR has fundamental-ly changed after the CSR was made mandatory by Compa-nies Act 2013. It has been seven years since then. What are your thoughts on CSR laws in India?A: India was the first country in the world to introduce the CSR law and it was a cru-cial step in bringing the topic from fringes to the boardrooms. While some organiza-tions are doing exceptionally well in this space, there is room for a lot more im-

We are also planning to create a pool of 45,000 well-trained technicians by 2025through skill development in the technical and non-tech-

nical streams


Allowing compa-nies to spend a certain amount of their funds towards under-takingactivities to in-clude their em-ployees in the CSR projects would encour-agethe corporates and their em-ployees to be more involved in the CSR projects

Towards the end of the financial year 2019-20, the COVID outbreak did

not only affect the businesses across sec-tors but also disrupted implementation of CSR projects run by companies. The on-ground CSR activities were almost halted. But many corporates quickly responded to the changing scenario and immediately tweaked their CSR projects to the chang-ing community needs amid the COVID outbreak.Crompton Greaves Consumer is one of these corporates who not only continued their CSR projects but also took this an opportunity to explore new ways of im-plementing their projects while adhering to the COVID protocols.The leading electrical appliances and water pump maker Crompton Greaves Consumer, in fact, spent more than Rs 10 crore on various social activities as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the year 2019-20, a little more than its prescribed CSR budget for the year. The CSR spent by the company was 39% more as compared to the previous year.In this interview, TheCSRUniverse talk-ed to the CSR and Sustainability team of Crompton Greaves Consumer to under-stand more about their efficient handling of CSR projects amid the COVID crisis. The CSR team at the company talks about the benefits of India’s CSR law and has also a message to share with peers. Read this interview to know how the CSR team at Crompton is carrying out its CSR ac-

tivities especially in the times of COVID.Interview Highlights with CSR team at Crompton Greaves Consumer● COVID lockdown can work as an op-portunity to explore other avenues of im-plementation of CSR projects especially over digital platforms, it also converted its large-scale mobilization drives into door-to-door activity.● Owing to reverse migration and job losses due to the pandemic, demand for skill training, upskilling and reskilling is expected to go up towards improving em-ployability.● Mandating the spend towards CSR is a good way to ensure that companies don’t lose sight of their responsibility towards society and communities.● Allowing companies to spend a certain amount of their funds towards under-taking activities to include their employ-ees in the CSR projects would encourage the corporates and their employees to be more involved in the CSR projectsOur focus over next 2-3 years would be to increase the employability and hence, the future path for more youth, including women● Corporates need to evolve from being funders to strategic partners in imple-mentation of the CSR projects and work together with implementation agencies to realise their CSR vision.Scroll down to read interview ex-cerpts with CSR Team of Cromp-

“COVID brought us opportuni-ties to explore ways of project implementation over digital platforms”

CSR Interview

By Shweta Singh

CSR and Sustainability team of Crompton Greaves Consumer


ton Greaves Consumer:Q: How has your CSR implemen-tation been impacted/affected due to COVID pandemic?A: Due to the unprecedented lockdown, all the projects came to a sudden stand still. However, this gradually became a great opportunity to explore other ave-nues of implementation of projects espe-cially over digital platforms.While quite a few of the on-going pro-grams are on hold, as a corporate we have been cognizant of the fact that initial few months were difficult for the health care system in the country. And hence, our CSR activities have stepped up to protect our protectors (doctors, nurses) and sup-port the health care infrastructure to be better equipped to handle the pandemic.Q: How are you continuing your CSR activities while adhering to the COVID protocols?A: Our implementation partners have all stepped up, issued the relevant protocols and adopted to technology and digital means to implement the projects, espe-cially in case of skill projects.The skilling projects albeit partially,w-ere resumed using online portals such as Zoom, Hangouts, etc. to ensure that there is no break in the learning outcomes of the candidates. With the ease in lockdown restrictions, we are looking at reopening of the centers in a phased manner, while ensuring that sanitization and social dis-tancing measures are undertaken. Large scale mobilization drives will now be re-placed by door-to-door drives to avoid large gatherings.Q: Can you share any specific example?A: Yes. For example, our collaboration with Akshaya Patra continues with the shift to provide ration and education kits to make up for the nutrition the children would have otherwise received in the form of mid-day meals at school. Also, at our water project sites, minimum number of workers are being deployed who ensure sanitization and social distancing norms are adhered to.Q: What are the key emerging CSR opportunities and needs in the COVID scenario?A: The current pandemic has shown the urgent need for building the capacity of hospitals and equipping them with the

which positively impacts an individual’s perspective on their responsibility to so-ciety at large.Q: What can be the changes in the current CSR law/provisions that can help corporates in be-ing more productive and effec-tive in implementation of their CSR activities?A: Currently, spend undertaken by a cor-porate towards ensuring participation of their employees in the CSR projects (on a one-time basis) is not allowed under CSR laws. Allowing companies to spend a cer-tain amount of their funds towards under-taking activities to include their employ-ees in the CSR projects would encourage the corporates and their employees to be more involved in the CSR projects.Q: What would be your CSR focus for the next 2-3 years?A: The aim of the CSR projects over the next few years would be to increase the employability and hence, the future path for more youth, including women. We would like to explore holistic community development projects in addition to water conservation projects to amplify the im-pact of the infrastructure created.Q: What are your suggestions and message to your corporate colleagues on building a strong CSR environment in the country?A: At the outset, our role as a corporate need to evolve from being funders to stra-tegic partners for the NGOs. We need to take active part in the projects with the im-plementation partners and work together to deliver the impact we envision. Most corporates focus on CSR efforts around their operations (e.g. an industrial area); a collaborative approach for more holistic development of the communities around will be more beneficial than the current piecemeal approach. Corporates also need to join hands with the government and civil societies to amplify the impact delivered by the projects and move a step closer towards achieving the vision set out under the global development goals. T

necessary infrastructure (e.g. ventilators, ambulances, etc.) to enable them to pro-vide good quality care.Owing to reverse migration and job loss-es due to the pandemic, we expect to see an increase in demand for skill training especially for upskilling and reskilling to improve employability of the candidates. Additionally, we have seen that the water conserved by the projects implemented in the past have provided short term em-ployment opportunities to the migrant workers who have returned home during the pandemic. Q: How your company’s focus area for CSR has evolved over the last 4-5 years?A: Over the last few years, we have ex-

panded the scope of our projects from skill development to include water con-servation and mid-day meal programs. Even under our skill development portfo-lio, we have gradually increased the num-ber of centers, implementation partners and locations.In case of water projects, we are con-sciously moving from being isolated in-frastructure projects to holistic communi-ty development projects.Q: The CSR has fundamental-ly changed after the CSR was made mandatory by Companies Act 2013. It has been 7 years since then. What are your thoughts on CSR laws in India?A: Mandating the spend towards CSR is a good way to ensure that companies don’t lose sight of their responsibility towards society and communities. It has given an opportunity to corporates to interact with the communities residing in their area of operation and work with them to bring about a long term and sustainable change. It has also provided an opportunity for several employees in the company to vol-unteer and participate in these activities

The aim of the CSR projects over the next few years

would be to increase theemployability and hence, the

future path for more youth, including women.


Although the new CSR legis-lation is making organizations re-evaluate their wealth for soci-ety’s well-being, CSR is more than mere charitable contributions.

Haruto Iwata is the Managing Director of Fujifilm India. He has been associ-

ated with Fujifilm for about three decades now and currently leading its business in India. Along with driving business, he has also been actively engaging in planning of company’s Corporate Social Responsi-bility (CSR) programmes in India. In this interview with TheCSRUniverse, he talks about various CSR initiatives of Fujifilm. He also shares insights on how the CSR journey for Fujifilm has evolved over the years in India.Scroll down to know his thoughts on In-dia’s CSR laws and suggestions to make it more effective in India.Interview Excerpts: Haruto Iwata, Man-aging Director, Fujifilm IndiaQ: You have been undertaking multiple CSR projects. How has your CSR implementation been impacted / affected due to the COVID pandemic?A: Fujifilm India’s approach to corporate social responsibility is to contribute to the sustainable development of society by putting our Corporate Philosophy into practice.We have been taking various initiatives to offer aid to the people of the society towards the unprecedented crisis caused due to the pandemic outbreak. Recently, we announced the launch of our digital campaign on ‘Connecting Hearts’ which aims to spread positivity and joy by build-ing a connection between patients and

doctors. Committed to reduce anxiety among patients and help them combat COVID with congeniality and affection, we had introduced a unique patient-fo-cused program by sharing Instax camer-as and films at hospitals to spread smiles across doctors and nurses working on the frontline during these times.Q: How are you continuing your CSR activities while adhering to the COVID protocols?A: To provide efficient healthcare solu-tions at a lower cost, we are working to-gether with the government’s Ayushman Bharat initiative. Additionally, with the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhi-yan, we even aim to provide assured, comprehensive and quality antenatal care by creating 1.5 lakh Health & Wellness Centers (HWCs) equipped with IBD/IVD, ECG and X-Ray Machine for basic screening.For the sustainable development of soci-ety, we are also extending our contribu-tion to various organisations, hospitals such as Moolchand Medcity in Delhi, Chengalpattu Medical College in Tamil Nadu, Gadag Institute of Medical Scienc-es in Karnataka, Kilpauk Medical College in Tamil Nadu and various NGO’s to curb the spread of these diseases.Additionally, to combat the spread of the disease we have been supplying N95 re-spiratory & surgical face masks along with PPE kits to healthcare professionals across many hospitals.

“Our CSR approach is simple – we put our corporate philosophy into practice”

CSR Interview

By Shrishti Rao

Haruto Iwata Managing Director, Fujifilm India


Q: How has your company focus area for CSR evolved over the last 4-5 years?A: In 2014, the Fujifilm Group had found its new corporate slogan, “Value from In-novation,” which seeks to continue cre-ating new technologies, products, and services that inspire and excite people ev-erywhere, and empower the potential and expand the horizons of tomorrow’s busi-ness and lifestyle.Under this slogan, we revised our CSR approach to express that we identify the social challenges and more actively seek their solutions. In the same year, we an-nounced our Medium-Term CSR Plan, Sustainable Value Plan 2016 (SVP 2016), aimed at “solving social issues through our business operation” and our Medi-um-Term Management Plan, Vision 2016, to serve as the plan for concrete action in achieving the goal.Based on the results and the experienc-es in the previous medium-term plans, in August 2017 we announced our new CSR Plan, Sustainable Value Plan 2030 (SVP 2030), and the new Medium-Term Management Plan, Vision 2019. SVP 2030 represents the long-term vision of the Fujifilm Group to contribute to creating a sustainable society. In order to achieve the goals, we will strive to become a com-pany with a long scope of perspective, capable of contributing to the sustainable growth of society by creating “new values” through our business activities.Q: How do you implement your various CSR projects in India?A: In our CSR journey in India, over the years, we have associated with various NGOs and organisations for the better-ment of the society at large.For example, we collaborated with Indian Cancer Society to communicate that early detection of breast cancer can save lives. Under the association, 18 medical camps were conducted to generate awareness about breast cancer and breast self-exam-ination for women of Delhi and NCR who are residing in slums and cannot afford quality treatment.In addition to that, this year, Fujifilm ran “Parivartan” Campaign that illustrates the importance of regular breast cancer screening and breast self-examination in India. With this campaign, we aim to “Create Change” and spread awareness

amongst young children, not only for their own well-being but also for them to act as an example to their mothers, grandmothers, and women in general to adopt timely preventive screening practic-es against breast cancer. We seek to reach out to young girls and women across the country with the message of “Early De-

tection – Saves Lives” in Breast Cancer through the campaign.Another example is our #AaoBaatKarein campaign. This campaign was run in part-nership with the Parwarish Cares Founda-tion an NGO, that is committed towards the welfare of children and women to sen-sitize children. We conducted awareness workshops in schools around the prev-alent yet ignored issues of child sexual abuse in the society.Q: What are your thoughts on CSR laws in India?

A: India was the first nation in the world to adopt the CSR legislation and it was a key move in introducing the subject and bringing about a positive change in the society. While the overall CSR spending has been increasing, it is also heartening to observe the increase in the number of companies going beyond the 2 per cent mandate and even companies who are not required to spend, have started allo-cating budgets for CSR. I believe that the government has put the pressure on orga-nizations to spend their CSR budget judi-ciously through its revised regulations.Further, during these testing times, the Government of India is also inspiring the companies to provide social support in this age of COVID-19. As per the report of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs dated March 23, 2020, all expenditures incurred on activities related to covid-19, will be added as the permissible avenues for CSR expenditure. This new development has been an added advantage for the better-ment of the society during these times.Q: What can be the changes in the current CSR law/provisions that can help corporates in be-ing more productive and effec-tive in the implementation of their CSR activities?A: Although the new CSR legislation is making organizations re-evaluate their wealth for society’s well-being, CSR is more than mere charitable contributions. T

This year, Fujifilm ran “Pari-vartan” Campaign that illus-tratesthe importance of reg-ular breast cancer screening and breast self-examinationin India. With this campaign,

we aim to “Create Change” and spread awareness

amongst young children


The world’s lead-ing technology companies have been quick to take notice of IndiVillage’scapabilities with Amazon, Merca-to, Taranis, Ap-pen, Alegion and Swiggy, partner-ingwith IndiVillage

It was not long time ago when Smita Malipatil was successfully running her

digital Solution Company in UK. With offices in London and Bangalore, her company provided digital strategy and technical solutions for the world’s lead-ing brands and advertising groups. In the early part of her career, Smita worked in different roles across Consulting, Business Development, Corporate Communica-tions and Trade Relations with renowned companies like IBM, Dharma Systems, i2 Technologies.The Alumnus of Harvard Business School with a dual MBA in Marketing and Fi-nance, however, could not resist her urge to bring her professional expertise for larger social good. In 2018, Malipatil joined IndiVillage,a social enterprise that leverages the power of technology through impact sourcing.As the Chief Empowerment Officer at In-diVillage, Smita is now bridging the gap between urban and rural India. Smita says that the model of IndiVillage is simple: We bring 21st-century technology jobs to rural communities, enable them to learn, earn and enrich their native communities.The world’s leading technology companies have been quick to take notice of IndiVil-lage’s capabilities with Amazon, Mercato, Taranis, Appen, Alegion and Swiggy, part-nering the social enterprise for its services that include data entry, image tagging, im-age editing, and other cutting-edge tech-nology solutions.

Currently, IndiVillage employs more than 300 individuals from rural communities in its centres in Raichur district in Karna-taka and Yemmiganur in Andhra Pradesh. In her leadership now, the social enter-prise is now expanding to other parts of the country.In this interview, Smita Malapatil talks about the “profit-for-all” model of Indi-Village. She also talks about challenges of running such social enterprises and opportunities that it brings to communi-ties. She also shares insight on how it in-vests profits back into these communities through development activities such as clean drinking water, livelihood initia-tives, healthcare and education.Read this interview to know more about her professional journey, current role of empowering rural communities and plans to expand this model across India…Interview with Smita Malipatil, Chief Empowerment Officer, IndiVillageQ: Your venture is a perfect ex-ample of ‘enabling & empower-ing’ rural youth through a sus-tainable model. How has your journey been so far?A: We opened our first centre inYemmiganur, Andhra Pradesh and beganoperations with less than 10 peoplein 2010. We turned profitable in 2012. In 2014, we commenced community de-velopment in Yemmiganur. In 2016 we opened the water filtration plant there. Our workforce touched the 100-employee

Know how this Harvard Alumni is empowering India’s rural com-munities with tech jobs

CSR Interview

By Shweta Singh

Smita Malipatil Chief Empowerment Officer, IndiVillage


mark in 2016.In 2017, we became a B corp certified company and joined the Global Impact Sourcing Coalition. In 2018, our staff strength increased to 200 and we were runners up at the Entrepreneurs Organi-zation Business Summit and Social Im-pact Awards ceremony. This year (2020), we have increased our staff strength to 300+ employees.Over the last decade we’ve impacted more than 35,000 lives creating 776 jobs. 405 children have received education and meals at our school. 14,663,107 litres of water have been dispensed to 18,014 in-dividuals. Nearly 12,000 patients have re-ceived care at our health centre.Q: You have worked in multi-national companies and also worked in the digital space? What was your thought process while starting this venture fo-cused on the rural community?A: IndiVillage was in fact started by Ravi Machhani who is a third-generation busi-ness owner. The founding philosophy of IndiVillage revolved around envisioning a world of equal opportunity between ur-ban and rural areas in which rural areas are sustainable and thriving communities and are enabled to live, work and grow.I joined IndiVillage as the CEO (Chief Empowerment Officer) in 2018. Prior to working with IndiVillage, I founded and ran Kieon, one of the UK’s leading digital agencies.As the IndiVillage CEO, I am responsible for bringing to life the company’s agenda of ‘Business for Good.’ My vision for Indi-Village is centred on a greater impact on women and rural communities through thoughtful scale, responsible business, and employee-centred initiatives.Q: What are the key challenges you face in training youth in ru-ral villages and meeting client requirements?A: Yes. Running of such a social enter-prise is full of challenges. A few below:● Gaining the community’s trust: Since our impact centres are located in rural In-dia, it is important to be able to build trust and gain the confidence of the local pop-ulation. They need to see us (IndiVillage) as an important contributing factor in the development of the community. In the last ten years of our existence, our workforce has grown to a total of 300 staff and com-

munity support and encouragement has played a huge role in this.● Hesitation to send women to the workplace: At the start of the IndiVillage journey, rural families were initially con-cerned with allowing female members (wives, daughter) to work outside their home environment. Over time and after repeated engagement with community members, we were able to address this and the participation of women in our work-force is nearly 45%.

● Discomfort around the increased earn-ing potential of women vis-a-vis men: In the ten years of our existence, we have had instances where some of our female employees were forced to quit by their family because the male members of their household were not happy with the wom-en earning more than them. In such cases IndiVillage acted as a neutral mediator and some of those conflicts could be re-solved with clear communication and un-derstanding.● Convincing international companies about the impact sourcing model: In the initial years, we faced some resistance from prospective clients and there were

questions around being able to provide the required quality of work. However, we have gone past those hurdles and work with some of the world’s leading technol-ogy and E-commerce companies.● Creating a formal work environment: Apart from creating employment oppor-tunities, we had to also put efforts into creating a structured and formal work en-vironment for our impact workers. As this is a first job for many of them, we are con-stantly improving our working culture.Q: Your model is ‘profit for all’. What do you mean by this?A: Indivillage provides data related ser-vices to AI/ML and e-commerce com-panies all over the world by training and employing youth. Companies can reduce costs, improve efficiencies and have access to high quality talent and secure services. Profits are channelled towards creating positive impact in communities. Clients therefore are also contributing towards creating positive change in under served communities in rural India.For a majority of our employees, this is their first job and most of them also hap-pen to be the only earning members in their families. Through IndiVillage, we have created a long-term sustainable em-ployment opportunity within the commu-nity. By being able to earn a dependable income, they are able to educate their siblings, help their families break poverty cycles and get advanced degrees for them-selves. By providing interesting work, a professional work environment and ca-reer growth to our workforce of 300, they are able to support a total ~ 1200 people who are direct dependents of our employ-

Looking further into the fu-ture, we know IndiVillage will

always stand for bringingeconomic opportunities to

rural India by leveraging the next new economies and

latest innovations.


ees, thereby empowering them to live bet-ter lives.Apart from creating livelihoods, we have, through our Primary School Initiative, been able to create an osmosis of learn-ing and development in one of the most economically marginalised communities in the community. Every child who is a part of our Primary School Initiative is nurtured holistically through academic, nutritional and socio-emotional devel-opment. We also run a Drinking Water Initiative which brings mineral rich, clean drinking water free of cost to the most vulnerable families in the community, en-suring that they live a healthy, secure and disease-free life.Q: COVID has made us all learn how to work remotely. How do you see this opportunity for your venture?A: The year 2020, or the year of COVID as it will be called after this year has been quite pivotal for IndiVillage. In the begin-ning of March, when our team assessed the situation around the world and how countries started shutting down one by one, we realised that we have to prepare ourselves for the very real possibility of working from home. Our service level agreement requirements with our cus-tomers require us to maintain stringent data security and access regulations which is why the first task was for us to commu-nicate with our customers, working with them on how to ascertain business conti-nuity. After this, we formulated SOPs for the emerging situation and transitioned each employee to remote working. While we did face our share of initial hiccups and interruptions, it is safe to say that we were able to successfully transition to re-mote working.This experience has opened new avenues of expansion for us and our venture. Pre-viously, our expansion plans depended on setting up physical centres in various locations but with the new paradigm of remote working, this has changed. We can have people based out of anywhere in the country or elsewhere in the world plug into our set-up and get started. We are currently in the process of piloting this out of rural communities in Rajas-

than, Gurgaon and Jammu. We are also working on setting up a platform that can be used to train, monitor and manage the work.Q: How are you investing back your profit into the rural com-munity?A: All our profits support programs of the IndiVillage Foundation and that of other local non-profit organizations in our communities. The IndiVillage Foun-dation focuses on the areas of education, gender, and livelihoods. Its main pro-grams are a child literacy intervention in partnership with a rural unaided primary school, a coding and soft skills develop-ment intervention for adolescent girls in government schools, and people develop-

ment initiatives for the youth workers in its impact (livelihood) centres.Additionally, through the Foundation and financial support from the LLP or the commercial operations, we are able to support a clean drinking water facility, a basic healthcare facility, education and nutrition at an unaided primary school, and community learning centres. As an organisation, we have also invested in adequate measures and relief efforts in response to the COVID outbreak in our communities.Q: What is your plan for next 2-3 years?A: Building on the success of our three

current canters in Yemmiganur and Raic-hur, we aim to open additional new cen-ters in 2020. Working with local partners in Rajasthan, Odisha and other north-eastern states, we aim to transplant our successful impact outsourcing model to empower members of other communities throughout India.Looking further into the future, we know IndiVillage will always stand for bringing economic opportunities to rural India by leveraging the next new economies and latest innovations. Our goal will always be to create social impact while encouraging business excellence. To have higher pro-ductivity we have to allow higher partici-pation. That is the only way to drive sus-tainable change. Together is always better.Q: Since you work closely with rural communities, what could Corporate Social Responsibili-ty (CSR) programmes that can make a much deeper impact at ground level?A: The CSR programmes in school adop-tion, upskilling and employment of rural youth, improving Primary Healthcare Centres, social and emotional wellbeing of rural women, adolescent engagement, and supporting organic farmers with in-puts and market linkages could be worth-while interventions to partner with/sup-port.Q:What is your message for business models focused on so-cial development? Please add any additional information that you wish would help the audi-ence understand your inspira-tional model.A: Businesses, economies, and countries can no longer grow in silos. As the world’s ‘youngest’ country, and one with extreme income inequality, our potential matches the gravity of our challenges. It is time for traditional profit-based thinking to give way to impact-based growth that delivers on a promise worth keeping. The ability to make these commitments and then fulfil them consistently may well define not just the future of business, but the future of our world itself. T

As the world’s‘youngest’ country, and

one with extreme income inequality, our potential

matches the gravity of our challenges. It is time for traditional profit-based thinking to give way to

impact-based growth that delivers on a promise worth

keeping.


CSR Impact

What started as a forestry project, supported by CSR arm of Tata Mo-

tors, on a large barren plot in Pune, has now become a lush-green micro-habitat and a recreational attraction to the local communities.The project area in Warje near Pune, over last three years, has also expanded to nearly 100-acres from the original area of 40-acre of barren land. The project area – named Smrit Van, now witnesses on an average about 1200 visitors daily who en-joy a morning or evening walk in the lap of nature.A few years back, the Tata Motors had piloted the concept of Urban Forest-ry in Warje near Pune, in collaboration with Technology, Education, Research and Rehabilitation for the Environment (TERRE) Policy Centre, an international environmental organisation.To begin with, 8 feet saplings of variety of trees were planted. The plantation in-cludes around 23 indigenous plants spe-cies namely Banyan, Peepal, Sonchafa, Apta, Neem, Kanchan, Golden Bamboos, Badam, Kaat, Amla, Umbar etc. To en-sure that this project remained sustain-able, peoples’ participation was encour-aged. People can adopt trees in memory of their loved ones.The project area named Smriti Van today boasts of more than 6,500 grown up trees.

Some have become 25-30 feet tall. Now, the forest is rich in biodiversity with 23 plant species, 29 bird species, 15 butterfly species, 10 reptiles and 3 mammal species. Five water ponds have been built and two watch towers constructed.Expressing joy, Vinod Kulkarni, CSR – Head, Tata Motors said that since 2015, more than 2000 Tata Motors volunteers

have planted over 50,000 indigenous sap-lings (with 98% survival rate) at Warje. Tata Motors volunteers regularly visit the site to help nurture and develop it. “The increased green cover has provid-ed the city with fresh clean air with the overall oxygen production going up to 7 lakh kgs and sequestration of 3 lakh kgs of carbon, annually. Additionally, the project also focused on reducing soil erosion by 130%,” he said.The Tata Motors had started the planta-

Tata Motors’ Pune project turns barren land into a recreational attraction

The project area in Warje near Pune, over

last three years, has also expanded to

nearly 100-acres from the original area of

40-acre of barren land.

tion drive on the barren land on June 5, 2009, World Environment Day. To protect the forestry and sustain the drive, the local communities were made the custodian of the forestry project, and they were offered an honorarium to ensure the upkeep of the forest.By doing this, the CSR team of Tata Mo-tors created a more aware group of citi-zens towards environmental protection and has demonstrated a high degree of ownership.“We firmly believe in actively assessing the improvement of the quality of life of the people in the communities, giving preference to local areas around our busi-ness operations,” Kulkarni said, adding, “In a span of just 3 years, the project that started on a 40-acre barren plot was trans-formed into a lush greenspace, becoming a micro-habitat and a recreational attrac-tion to the local communities.”Given its environment and community benefits, the CSR project now stands as the grand success among Tata Motors’ CSR activities.With a focus on engineering and tech en-abled automotive solutions catering to the future of mobility, Tata Motors is India’s market leader in commercial vehicles and amongst the top four in the passenger ve-hicles market. T

CSR Inspiration


In his last Mann Ki Baat on August 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi

reminded the country that September would be observed as the nutrition month or Poshan Maah. While trying to under-line the required attention to the issue of malnutrition in India, he said that schools should also provide nutrition cards to stu-dents along with the report cards.In order to raise awareness about this is-sue, India has been observing September as National Nutrition Month for the past two years.Without heightening awareness related to the importance of nutrition and mak-ing food accessible to the needy, India- a country where almost 50% of children are affected from one or the other kind of malnutrition- can’t get rid of this menace. Coming forward, several corporate have also lent their support to the government by investing resources and energy to fight malnutrition in the country. There are a significant number of Indian companies spending a good sum of money to make nutritious food available to children and women of the country. However, given the current scenario, it seems that the Indian government and corporate players need to give an extra push towards the cause to help India fulfill its commitment made under the Sustain-able Development Goals (SDG).What is Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)The Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

SDG Global Target 2.2 says, “By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children less than 5 years of age, and ad-dress the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons.”There are four indicators in SDG 2.2 which deal with specific targets. Read the explainer to understand each target and the reason behind setting a particular tar-get.Indicator I: Percentage of children under

age 5 years who are stuntedPresent Status: Around 34.7 per cent of children under 5 years of age are catego-rised as stunted in India as per the Com-prehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) Report 2016-18 of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.India’s aim is to reduce it to 2.5 per cent.Why has India set a target of reducing it to 2.5 per cent?As per the World Bank database, as of

Explainer: What does it mean to observe September as ‘Poshan Maah’

2017, in high income countries, 2.5% chil-dren under the age of 5 years are stunted. Given that this is the lowest stunting rate in the developed world, it has been set as the target for India to achieve by 2030.Indicator II: Percentage of pregnant women aged 15-49 years who are anaemicPresent status: As per National Fami-ly Health Survey IV, almost 50% of the pregnant women aged between 15 and 49 years are anaemic.India aims to reduce it to 25% by 2025.Why has India set a target of reducing it to 25.15 per cent?The WHO targets a 50% reduction of anaemia in women of reproductive age by 2025. Hence, 50% of the India value as of 2015-16 has been set as the target for 2025.Indicator III: Percentage of children aged 6-59 months who are anaemic (Hb g/dl)Present status: Around40.5% children aged 6 – 59 months are anaemic.India’s national target under SDG is to bring it down to 14% by 2030.Why India’s target is 14%?As per the World Bank database, in 2016, the rate of prevalence of anaemia among children (percentage of children under 5) in high income countries is 14%. Giv-en that this is the lowest prevalence rate of anaemia among children in the devel-oped world, it has been set as the target for 2030.Indicator IV: Percentage children aged 0–4 years who are underweightPresent Status: Around 33.4% children aged 0 to 4 years are underweight in India.India wants to bring it down to 0.9% by 2030. T

Without heightening awareness related to the

importance of nutrition and making food accessible to the needy, India- a country where almost 50% of chil-dren are affected from one or the other kind of malnu-trition- can’t get rid of this

menace.

Special Feature


States Literacy rate (in %) Top five states getting most CSR budget (2018-19)

Andhra Pradesh 66.4 MaharashtraRajasthan 69.7 KarnatakaBihar 70.9 GujaratTelangana 72.8 Tamil Nadu

Uttar Pradesh 73.0 Odisha

Education is an area that gets the max-imum allocation from the corporate

under their Corporate Social Responsi-bility (CSR) activities in India, however, there is a mismatch between the need and spend among the states. Thus it becomes important to understand the status of ed-ucation for those planning their CSR ac-tivities.A recent report by National Sample Sur-vey Organisation (NSSO) throws light on the literacy rate in the country. Among the states, Kerala topped the list with 96.2% literacy while Andhra Pradesh emerged as the worst performer with a literacy rate of 66.4%. Below is a table showing the five worst performer states in terms of literacy and top five states getting the maximum amount from the CSR kitty.In its 75th round, the union government’s statistical arm conducted a survey on Household Social Consumption: Educa-tion from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018. It tried to collect indicators on participation of the persons between the age group of 3 to 35 years in the education system, ex-penditure incurred on education of the household members and various indica-tors of those currently not getting edu-cation. Besides, for persons of age 5 years and above, information was collected on ability to operate computers, ability to use the internet and use of the internet during the last 30 days.The report gives a complete picture of what is happening in the education sector in India and can give an insight to CSR players who want to make an impactful intervention.It should be noted that education tops the list of focus areas of CSR activities in In-dia followed by health and Rural Develop-ment. In 2018-19, the amount spent on education was Rs 7,499.26 crore as com-pared to Rs 4,958.48 crore on health and

CSR spend on education increases, but is it helping to improve literacy rate?

Rs 2,308.83 crore on rural development. The education sector received more than 40 % of the total CSR budget in 2018-19.This is not a story of just one year, the education sector clubbed with differ-ently-abled and livelihood has seen the sharpest rise in allocation of CSR funds

over the years. As per the Ministry of cor-porate affairs (MCA), the sector received Rs 3,188.09 crore in 2014-15, which in-creased to Rs 7,499.26 crore in 2018-19.This is significant amount if compared to total allocation of government of India on school education. In 2018-19, when cor-

porate spent Rs 7,499.26 on education in India under their CSR activities, GOI al-located Rs 48,441 crore on School Educa-tion and Literacy. So, the CSR budget for education was more than 15 per cent of total budget of GOI on school education.Credit should be given to corporate for prioritizing education and spending sig-nificant amount on it. At the same time, it should be highlighted that the states

getting the maximum benefit of the CSR budget in India, are not the ones with the worst literacy rate (See table). Those lagging behind in the literacy ranking are nowhere in the focus of corporate. This shows there is something amiss in the CSR planning. The present scenario de-mands not just attention but a strategic in-tervention in the sector by CSR players. T

Special Feature


TheCSRUniverse

CSR Special FeatureIs your CSR activity hitting the right cord with different stakeholders ?

Has your CSR implementation evolved with the latest trends ?

What are the ways to track the impact of your CSR activities ?

What are the most pressing social and developmental issues for your CSR planning?

Stay tuned to TheCSRUniverse.com


Find all your answers here!

CSR Special Feature Who spends what? - The CSR Universe

Documents

Transcript of CSR Special Feature Who spends what? - The CSR Universe